Nyctophobia
by Kakashis-First-Kiss
Summary: An old fear of Orochimaru's comes back to haunt him, and the only one left who can even touch him is Kabuto. But Orochimaru just seems to push him away the more he tries to help. Does an old friend of Orochimaru's hold the key to recovery? ItaOro, OroKabu
1. Chapter 1

Kabuto damned his alarm clock every day. But today he damned it especially explicitly.

Sighing with frustration and turning over with a groan, Kabuto threw the offending clock against the opposite wall and stuck his head under his pillow, trying with difficulty to block out the noise. He turned over again, sighing as he realized it was impossible to escape the loud beeping of the clock. Kabuto got up from his bed, hair tussled and unbound, eyes half-closed and clouded with sleep. Kabuto groaned turned off the clock (the correct, easy way now-by hitting snooze) and set it down on his nightstand again. Well, he was up, and he afraid if he stopped moving, he wouldn't be able to start again. Might as well get going…the silver-haired teen sighed. He wordlessly trudged into the bathroom, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and getting dressed in a fog. He tied his hair back in its normal, neat ponytail, wrapped his white sash around his waist, and took one final look in the mirror above the sink. He let go of a breath of satisfaction and stepped out of the bathroom, sliding into his sandals on his way out the door. Time for the best part of the day-waking up Orochimaru.

Kabuto slid silently into the room, softly closing the massive, snake-handled doors behind him and entering the main area of Orochimaru's suite. He walked down the long hallway, and then took a left into the bedroom. The door was closed, and a strong smell of incense greeted Kabuto when he opened the door. Usually it was lavender-today, though, it was rose. Kabuto's nose wrinkled at the smell: it was beautiful, but more suited both to Orochimaru's tastes and personality and his tendency to enjoy aromas ore when they were outrageously strong. Kabuto, on the other hand, liked mild smells in small amounts. Even so, he walked forward and into the room, gently smothering several of the sticks of incense. Orochimaru had also left candles burning; Kabuto left those for light. He then moved around the room, marveling at the beauty once again. Incense rested in shallow bowls hung from the ceiling on golden chains, and candles sat in deeper ones. Candles were also piled on Orochimaru's desk, his nightstand, and over several unknown pieces of furniture that had long, black silk curtains draped over them. Orochimaru had red curtains draped over much of the walls, and they seemed to be draped and pinned haphazardly. But Kabuto knew better: Orochimaru had done this to add flare to the otherwise-stone room. His bed itself, a magnificent, tall four-poster of deep mahogany, was the center of the room, with sheer red curtains around it and deep blood-red sheets. Orochimaru himself lie in the middle of this, sheets pooled around his lithe hips, barely covered by his boxers. Kabuto tried not to stare, but he couldn't help but do so as he caught sight of his master's breathtaking form, inert on the bed. Dark hair splayed out around him in a halo of darkness, in sharp contrast to his porcelain skin. His piercings gold eyes were closed, but the violet over them more than sufficed to steal Kabuto's soul and lock it in a deep trance. Kabuto shook himself and paced closer to Orochimaru's bed, parting the curtains and slipping through them to sit on the edge of Orochimaru's bed. Kabuto reached out and touched Orochimaru's shoulder, whispering the sannin's name to wake him. Orochimaru was a deep sleeper-he would probably wake after a few minutes of cold water being poured on his face. But it never hurt to try-

Orochimaru's eyes flashed open with a gasp.

Kabuto drew back, his hand snatching away from Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sama," he said softly, surprised. Since when was Orochimaru such a light sleeper? "My apologies, Orochimaru-sama, I did not mean to startle you-were you already awake?"

Orochimaru sat up slowly, gazing at Kabuto and panting lightly. He shook his head in response to Kabuto's question. "Guess I was just in a lighter phase of sleep," he whispered, shaking his head. "Whatever."

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. He knew Orochimaru had a past to him-was it coming back and haunting him during the night? He decided to shake it off. It was probably nothing. In the dark of the room, Kabuto could see the shadows dance across Orochimaru's face like never before, and it stunned him every time. He sighed lightly and stood up, holding the curtain aside and offering Orochimaru his hand. The sheets almost clung to Orochimaru as he slid his pale, slender legs out of them, stepping out of bed and taking Kabuto's hand. Kabuto held him close and steadied him with his own body as Orochimaru oriented himself, but then stepped away from Kabuto and walked away, pulling his boxers up a bit to shield himself more from Kabuto's hungry gaze. He opened the door to his room, leaving Kabuto with instructions to blow out all the candles and make breakfast. Kabuto quietly did as he was told, leaving Orochimaru's room still smelling faintly of rose and smoking lightly. Kabuto left the door open ajar, and then went into the kitchen to get Orochimaru something decent to eat. He swore, without him, Orochimaru would have died of malnourishment by now. He set out a plate of scrambled eggs and an orange, and then went to get his own food. Kabuto only got hungry once he was actually up and about, and thus usually went and woke up Orochimaru before eating breakfast. Kabuto had just opened the door when Orochimaru stopped him.

"Kabuto!"

The genin turned slightly to face his master, answering, "Hai, Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru looked hesitant before finally asking, "The fear of something attacking you in the dark is nyctophobia, right?"

Kabuto paused, closed the door, and turned around fully. "Fear of the dark itself, fear of something concealed in the darkness, fear of waking up in the dark after a nightmare and fearing the danger is real-so on and so forth. Why do you ask?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "New experiment."

Kabuto shrugged. It was a solid enough excuse, but Orochimaru's earlier over-reaction to Kabuto waking him up was getting the genin worried. Well, let it go for now. Orochimaru could take care of himself. He was probably being paranoid. "Your breakfast is on the table. Eat it, and then let me know what else you want. I'm going to wake the Sound Five."

Orochimaru waved him off. "No, leave them to sleep. Wake them in half an hour."

Kabuto nodded. "Fine. Now, I'm going to check on Kimimaro."

Orochimaru nodded and slid into the bathroom, swift as a viper and smooth as silk. Kabuto exited the room, closing the door and taking off for medical wing of the complex. But he wasn't going straight to Kimimaro: no, he was making a side trip to an old friend-and he was old. He had known Orochimaru in diapers, and could probably tell Kabuto if he had noticed anything different about Orochimaru lately-or if he had a fear of the dark in the past. Kabuto knocked politely on the door of the man's office and waited for an answer. The light was on, but the door was closed, so Kabuto made sure to knock. "Old man Kenshin!" he hissed, knocking on the door again. "Open up, I have to ask you something!"

"Kabuto? Is that you? If it's Kabuto, you may come in. If you're anyone but Orochimaru or Kabuto, go away."

Kabuto smiled and turned the knob to the door, slipping into Kenshin's office and softly closing the door again. Kenshin pushed his chair away from his desk, turned it slightly, and glanced up at Kabuto. "What can I do for you?" he asked, taking his reading glasses off the end of his nose and setting them aside. Kenshin was at least seventy-five, and looked his age: his skin was sagging, his hair was white, and his tanned skin was speckled with liver spots. But still, Kabuto loved him like a grandfather, and had even gone as far as to adopt him as such. He had grown up around the man, and trusted him with both his life and Orochimaru's.

"I have a question…about Orochimaru-sama when he was young."

Kenshin smiled wisely. "Ah, you know you're not supposed to gossip, Kabuto-kun," he chided. Kabuto sighed.

"Medical reasons," he said, waving off Kenshin's comment. "I need to know if he had a certain fear as a child, and if he did, why."

Kenshin shrugged and leaned back in his chair, resting his arms on the sides. "Shoot," he said. "But bear in mind, Orochimaru was virtually fearless all his life-"

"Nyctophobia-the fear of the dark."

Kenshin nodded. "Only fear he ever had. Why, it's coming back?"

"I think so," Kabuto replied. "He's been sleeping with more and more light in the room, more and more incense, and he seems startled whenever I wake him up."

Kenshin frowned and stood up. "Does he trust you?"

Kabuto hesitated, but then nodded. A smile grew over Kenshin's face, like he knew something important that Kabuto didn't.

"Trust is mutual, boy; don't you ever forget that. The fact that you hesitated to attest to his trust in you says that he will most likely hesitate to attest to your trust in him, and vice versa. And, questioned directly about your own trust in each other, he will still hesitate. You either need to make it clear to him that you need to trust him and he needs to do the same, otherwise this will continue. He needs someone to trust, now more than ever. If this fear is coming back, it must have a trigger. Watch him carefully, especially if he has any visitors around-welcome or unwelcome. Make sure no one gets to him in his own room without his express consent."

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying someone is traumatizing him?" he growled.

Kenshin merely shrugged. "It's possible. Like I said, watch him."

The door opened, and Kenshin glanced over Kabuto's head. A pale man with black hair and golden eyes walked in, looking tired and worn already. Orochimaru was dressed in only a dark kimono, black with gold patterns on it. A gold obi held it closed, tied in the back. "Who are we talking about here?" he asked, voice slightly raspy from sleep.

"Kimimaro," Kenshin supplied smoothly. Kabuto made sure to keep his face passive and clean; if Orochimaru found out-

"Look, Kenshin, I wanted to talk to you. Alone."

Kabuto's eyes suddenly looked stricken. "You…don't trust me?" he said sadly, acting completely and totally stabbed through the heart. Orochimaru rolled his eyes.

"Flawless acting, but I know you. Shoo."

Kabuto's expression swiftly changed to anger. "Orochimaru-sama, as your medic, I think I deserve to know!"

"And that's wonderful. But is this about business, or have you grown a bit closer to me for comfort?"

Kabuto's eyes flashed dangerously, and Orochimaru could sense the teen's emotions running wild. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I-I didn't mean it the way it came out…I haven't been getting much sleep lately, as Kabuto told you. Yes, Kabuto, my nyctophobia has come back. Not that it's any of your business-"

"Do you trust me or not?"

Orochimaru swiftly turned on Kabuto. "Of course I trust you!" he hissed. "I trust you with my life!"

"But not all of it."

Both men turned again at the sound of Kenshin's voice. "What are you saying, geezer?" Orochimaru threatened. "Are you presuming-?"

"I presume nothing. I merely draw conclusions from what I have seen."

"Don't make excuses."

Kenshin smirked and sat down in his chair again, crossing one leg over the other and putting his hands behind his head. "Call it what you will, but the fact of the matter is, you didn't trust Kabuto with confidence of your fears, and he has lost a bit of trust in you as well. Correct me if I am wrong. Kabuto is worried about you; you are afraid he will think less of you if you tell him about your fears, so you search for other solutions. Now, Orochimaru, I knew you as a child. You never even told me about your fear; I figured it out when I heard you crying one night. You were nine, and I thought it was odd; it was rather unlike you to cry. Anyway, I knew your phobia was severe, so I started lighting sage, rose, lavender, and vanilla incense to try to calm you down enough to get a normal night's sleep. You seemed to like the lavender best, and you still use it to this day. But it's gotten worse again, no? Tell me, who haunts you now?"

Orochimaru glared at Kenshin, trying to avoid the question. "Does it matter?"

Kenshin smiled. "Yes, it does. Or are you afraid of trusting us?"

Orochimaru sighed. At first, Kabuto thought that was all it was, but then he caught the whispered syllables of a name: "Uchiha. Itachi."

Kenshin's eyebrows rose. "Ooooooooh, that she-devil. Back again, hm? Is he actually coming back, or is it your fear playing with you?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, but his face remained unreadable. "He…both. He came back once…and did the same thing he did…years and years ago…and then he left and never came back. But he brought it all back…"

Kabuto glanced at Kenshin, then Orochimaru, searching for an explanation. "Orochimaru-sama?" he probed, gently prodding Orochimaru on. Orochimaru turned on him again, shaking violently.

"It's none of your business!" he shrieked, lashing out at Kabuto. Kenshin reached out and caught Orochimaru's hand, pushing him back a few feet before informing Kabuto:

"Itachi raped Orochimaru several years ago, right before he left Akatsuki. Orochimaru tried to take Itachi's body as revenge, but Itachi cut off his arm and took him over completely. In Tsukiyomi, Itachi forced Orochimaru to relive the worst days of his life-the day his parents died, the day his entire village rejected him-even the day, only a week before, that Itachi had raped Orochimaru. Orochimaru fled, heartbroken: see, he was interested in Itachi as a lover, but had never worked up the courage to ask. Knowing that Itachi wanted him was encouraging, but he decided he could never love someone who had done something like that. So, he picked up and left, and came to me, seeking advice. I helped him found Oto, and he's still searching for revenge. But Itachi drove him mad for months afterwards; Orochimaru here was so messed up, he could hardly bear to sleep alone. I tried everything I had before, and it seemed to help, but it didn't cure. Eventually, with time, the nightmares faded, but if Itachi came back and reinforced the lesson, we can kiss that goodbye."

"You speak with a slicing tongue," Orochimaru growled, yanking his fist free of Kenshin's. "I'll cut it off! How dare you inform him so! Such private matters ought never to be let out into the open! You had none of my permission to do so, and worse, you are even telling this…this _boy, _everything that ever happened to me and why! He doesn't need such information, and you don't have the right to tell him!"

"But he has a right to know," Kenshin said calmly. "This 'boy' as you put it, loves you and cares about you like a son, and maybe even as a lover. He didn't want to see you suffer. That's why he came to me and asked about you. He wanted my help. Come on, Orochimaru, accept that you trust him! Don't get mad at me for helping you out."

"Don't assume so much," Orochimaru spat, fuming. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going so I don't castrate both of you."

"We'd die," Kabuto said immediately. "If our bodies took that kind of shock without at least a local anesthetic, our bodies would simply go into shock and we'd start-"

"_Augh!!"_

Orochimaru stormed out of the room, screaming. Kenshin sighed. "Let him go," he murmured. "If we do anything right now, he'll hate us more than ever. I'm glad you came to me, though. What I didn't tell you is that his nyctophobia has led to other problems: depression, irritability, even cutting. I'll work with you, but this is also a battle for him to acknowledge his trust in you and not be ashamed by it. Help him, Kabuto. Don't let him suffer."

Kabuto nodded. "Thank you," he whispered, bowing slightly to Kenshin. "Now, if you'll excuse me…I'm going to make sure Orochimaru-sama doesn't kill himself."

"He'll be on the roof," Kenshin supplied. "He always goes there whenever he wants to be alone."

Kabuto nodded his thanks and left Kenshin's office, closing the door behind him. Kenshin smiled.

"Good luck, boy," he whispered. "That man loves you, but you're the first he ever has. Cut him some slack; he really does love you, but he just can't bring himself to tell you."

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru sat quietly on the roof, knees curled into his chest and arms wrapped around his knees. His chin was resting on his crossed arms, eyes staring off into the distance at something Kabuto couldn't see. Kabuto came up behind Orochimaru and stopped a few feet away, gently clearing his throat to make his presence known. Orochimaru seemed to ignore him, but Kabuto stepped up anyway and sat down next to the sannin. The sun was rising, and Orochimaru seemed to be staring in that general direction. Kabuto remained silent for a moment, just watching the sun rise and listening to the soft sounds around him.

He didn't expect a light, soft breath that shook uncontrollably and was accompanied by tears.

Kabuto glanced over at Orochimaru, noticing the way his eyes had welled up with unshed tears and spoke of unbearable suffering. Kabuto slipped closer to Orochimaru, putting one arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer. "Orochimaru-sama," he whispered, "how long has this gone on?"

Orochimaru leaned against him slightly, letting only his shoulder rest against Kabuto in any way as he answered: "Months."

Kabuto sighed and pulled Orochimaru over a bit more, forcing him to rely more on Kabuto and less on himself. "You have to trust me," he whispered, eyes still on the sunrise ahead of him. "Don't just shut me out-you need someone. You'll crumble by yourself, no matter how physically strong you are. I know you don't like to realize it or acknowledge it, but you still have a heart, Orochimaru-sama. Whether it is to thrive or wane…is up to you."

**A/N: Well, I think all the chapters for this are going to be fairly long. I'm not sure I like how this came out, but the end I like. Reviews would be wonderful-please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

As Orochimaru lit the candles around his room, he could hardly stand being so close to the vanilla. The source of the scent was almost overpowering, even to Orochimaru. This was why he rarely used vanilla incense and candles: it was such a strong scent, and Orochimaru preferred soft scents in excess than strong ones used as they were intended to be used. Orochimaru shook out the match he was using, dropped it in the garbage can he kept in the corner, and pulled back the covers to his bed. He dropped the thin kimono he was wearing over his boxers on the nightstand next to his bed, not bothering to hang it up as he normally would. The entire day had been hell, and he wasn't about to make it worse.

After Kabuto had found out about what had happened to him and chased him up onto the roof, Orochimaru had found himself in one of his worst moods to date. He had used his foul mood to increase his performance in training that day, and had succeeded in giving himself a broken leg, dislocated shoulder, and four broken ribs before calling it a day and collapsing in Kabuto's arms after the spar-with twenty jounin at once. Kabuto had promptly chewed him out for killing himself, healing him in the process. Orochimaru had dryly commented that, for such sharp words, Kabuto's hands were deceptively soft. Kabuto had flushed, muttered something about how he was trained, and never bringing personal feelings into his duty, and Orochimaru had laughed right then and there. After he was healed fully, Orochimaru had gotten up, walked away, and showered. He had eaten lunch, then disappeared for several hours. When he returned, he was met by a multitude of relieved servants, Kabuto at their forefront.

_Orochimaru had disappeared to the rolling hills of Otoga's borders, walking through the tranquil fields and bustling forests. The craggy mountains in the background usually brought Orochimaru a sense of peace, as did meditating in the area. Whether it was perched on a plateau high above the hills, sitting behind a grassy knoll, or hiding in a tree, Orochimaru could always calm himself down by coming to the outskirts of the Oto. And no one ever found him. He took it no on ever got up the courage to tail him here, or simply that they were unable. Orochimaru left a confusing trail._

_Today, he decided to hide behind a tall hill, leaning back against the swell as he sat in the tall grass and flowers, legs extended and crossed at the ankle. His arms lay across his thighs, crossed at the wrist and motionless. Orochimaru's violet-covered eyes were closed, and his head was tipped back against the hillside. He had meditated here for hours, alone. He knew he needed only delve a small bit deeper into himself to find the spirit-the spirit of himself._

_And he did just that._

_Orochimaru turned his eyes into his soul, staring at the entity that was himself. Black flames coiled around his heart, pulsing and steady as a beating drum. His soul itself, a translucent white being in his form, danced among the flames, pure white amongst the jet black flames of his personality. Stubbornness in the blue around the edges. Lust in the black flames themselves. Despair in the purple at the base. Anger, hatred in the red laced throughout the inside of the flames, opened like a twisted flower._

_And pain in the white in the center._

_Hidden by the rest of the flames, there was a small pool of opalescent white underneath Orochimaru's "feet." It was like water, in all except color. As Orochimaru's _

_soul's feet skimmed across the surface, it rippled and splashed, sending pearly drops of water in an arch around the point where the disturbance in the liquid had began. Then Orochimaru realized-pain, tears. These were his tears, so long unshed._

It's not the end.

Let the Kingdom come.

_Orochimaru paused to wonder if he even needed tears; if they need be there to be shed. Then, his curiosity took over, and he slipped into his own soul, suddenly seeing the flower of flames through different eyes. He felt his body moving in time with an unknown beat, the rhythm of a heart in beat and lungs in sync. His blood flowed like rivers of crimson water, rushing by him in time with the motion of his arms. Energy generated by his moving form emanated from a fountain of light, seemingly deep within his core. His heart…was that it? No…no, it was the heart in his soul. So complex, the inner part of himself._

Forever and ever and never forever-

Wanderlust.

_Orochimaru slowly drew himself back, first out of his deepest core, then back into the real world. A marvel, the being that was himself. At first, one only saw the black. Then, reflected colors came into focus at a closer look, and then looking inside of the inside brought the deepest-down emotions tumbling out._

_As Kabuto had done._

_Orochimaru slowly opened his eyes, flexing his long-still muscles and orienting them again with the reality of the world. After several minutes of moving his limbs to get himself used to moving again, Orochimaru stood up and began walking back towards Oto's main complex._

_It took him almost an hour to get back, even running most of the time, and Orochimaru was tired by the time he got back. The sun was setting behind him, a yellow ball of fire ringed by crimson flames of the sun's rays. The sky was painted in orange, red, purple, blue, and pink as Orochimaru finally entered the complex-and Kabuto's arms._

"_We were so worried about you!" he scolded, immediately going to the anger caused by concern. "Stop doing this to me, stop doing this to all of us!" He gestured broadly to the Otonin behind him-almost the entire complex. "I hate it when you do this! You disappear for hours on end, sometimes even days, and no one can find even a hair of yours anywhere! Your scent erratically vanishes and reappears, then again and again. What is this of yours?!"_

_Orochimaru said nothing for a moment. Then, he turned to Kabuto and whispered, "Wanderlust towards the soul."_

_Kabuto looked stricken for a moment, and Orochimaru breezed by him easily. "I'm showering and going to bed," he said abruptly, dismissing his servants with a wave of his hand. "Please don't disturb me."_

And so it was done. No one had bothered Orochimaru since, and Kabuto had been strangely quiet the entire evening. Orochimaru recalled the conversation-or argument, more likely-that had passed between him, Kenshin, and Kabuto earlier that day-regarding Kabuto and Orochimaru's trust in each other. Supposedly, they didn't trust each other fully. Orochimaru shook his head as he climbed into bed, pulling the covers up and over himself. No, it was not trust that he lacked in Kabuto-it was trust he lacked in himself. For some reason, he didn't trust himself enough to disclose to Kabuto anything about Itachi…or what he said.

"_I told you, Orochimaru, not to ever try to go against me. I warned you, and now you've really got it coming. I told you not to go near Sasuke!"_

_Orochimaru backed away from Itachi, then started when he hit the closed door. "I didn't-he chose it himself-"_

"_Don't lie to me, Orochimaru," Itachi snarled, advancing on Orochimaru. As the sannin stared up at Itachi, he noticed with a start how tall Itachi had truly become-and how beautiful. He had let his hair grow even long, and now it hung in a long ponytail all the way down his back. His feminine features had only grown more pronounced as he grew older, and the lines under his eyes somehow made him appear even more attractive._

"_You've changed," Orochimaru gasped. "Your looks, your personality-I…I hate everything you've become!" He tried to slide away, but Itachi caught his wrist, and Orochimaru froze._

"_Don't you dare," Itachi whispered. "I loved you, and you betrayed me. Revenge will taste too sweet in your blood. Maybe I shouldn't…" Itachi raised his free hand and gently stroked down the side of Orochimaru's face, laughing as he stared into the snake's eyes. "What is this, fear in your eyes? I told you, love, I would never hurt you."_

"_Stop it," Orochimaru whispered, lowering his head in defeat. "Don't do this." He knew all too well what Itachi's twisted words and warped sense of reality meant. "Don't, please!" When he raised his head again, his eyes were pleading. Itachi only laughed._

"_What would you rather I do?" he growled, smile suddenly vanishing. He drew back his hand and slapped Orochimaru across the face, so hard that the sting seemed to scream as loud as the slap itself. Orochimaru cried out in surprise and stumbled, Itachi's blow throwing him off balance and sending him sprawling across the floor. Itachi used his grip on Orochimaru's wrists to pull him closer, then kicked him hard in the ribs. Orochimaru gasped with the pain, clutching at his sides as Itachi reached over him and locked the door._

"_Now, don't scream," he whispered, bending down over Orochimaru and sliding him across the floor into his arms. Orochimaru braced himself, but hardly anything could prepare him for the torture of being raped._

_Being raped by one he used to love, and would have given himself willingly to, had Itachi not become so abusive._

Orochimaru turned over, hammering into his bed with a balled fist, burying his face in his pillows. His sheets were twisted around his waist, restricting his movement until he wrenched himself free with a small utterance of pain and fear. The dark surrounded him suddenly eased with the light of the candles pouring into his eyes, and his nose filled with the scent of vanilla, permeating the room and filling every nook and cranny.

Itachi hated vanilla.

He also hated rose and lavender, and that was why Orochimaru burned it. He had once burned sage, and Itachi had commented how much he loved sage. Orochimaru had never touched it again, but Itachi seemed to detest the calming scent of lavender, so Orochimaru used it often.

Especially on the nights Itachi came.

He knew when Itachi was coming: it was as easy as the moon. Itachi always came during the dark of the moon. And today was three days from it. Orochimaru had made it his goal to drench everything in lavender, if only to repulse Itachi further. He had been feeling more and more oppressed lately, and wanted to drive Itachi away in every way possible. Starting tomorrow night, he would only burn lavender, and he would let it burn as long as he could.

The door opened.

Orochimaru sat bolt upright, then exhaled slowly at the identity of the male who had walked in. It was Kabuto, and he was carrying a glass filled with what smelled like tea. Orochimaru relaxed a bit, sitting up a bit more comfortably and pulling the sheets up over himself as much as possible. Kabuto reached out wordlessly, placing the glass in Orochimaru's hand and curling his fingers around it.

"Drink it," he said softly. "It's something to help calm you down." He turned away and couched, waving his hand in front of his nose. "How can you stand this? It's bad enough when you use the lavender, let alone the rose, but the vanilla is ridiculous! And it's so strong!"

Orochimaru smiled slightly. "Thank you," he whispered, drinking down the tea Kabuto had put whatever sedative he had in there. "Hey, leave it!" Orochimaru caught Kabuto blowing out several of the candles and smothering incense, and made his dissent known. Kabuto turned, glared, and then smothered another stick of incense.

"So you don't choke during the night," Kabuto said dryly. "Honestly, Orochimaru-sama!"

Orochimaru smiled and set the glass down on his nightstand, lying back contentedly. "I'm sleeping. Leave that incense!"

As soon as Orochimaru's eyes closed, Kabuto immediately began blowing out candles. Orochimaru had only instructed him to leave alone the incense, and there wasn't nearly as much of that…

OOOOOOOOOOO

Itachi glanced out the window at the moon. A sliver in the sky. Too light for him. He enjoyed the dark shed by the new moon, when Orochimaru's fears would be greatest. There was something about the dark of the moon that Itachi loved, anyway…and not just the nyctophobia that came with it. Much as Itachi enjoyed tormenting Orochimaru, something always seemed off when he attacked during the dark of the moon. Was it the fact that no one ever seemed to notice Orochimaru's screams of agony and fear Was it the fact that Orochimaru himself seemed more jittery and on edge? Was it the fact that Orochimaru's old mentor, Kenshin, always seemed to sleep more soundly on those nights? Or was it the fact that the magnetic tides of the entire earth were thrown off by the moon, only on the night of the dark?

Either or all, Itachi loved the dark of the moon.

Itachi was a creature of the dark, and had always detested the light. It made him hiss and spit like a cat, and a panther, he was. Long, sleek, gorgeous, and dangerous, Itachi was a predator formed from darkness itself. Born of a battle between good and evil, evil's victory had incarnated Itachi as a predator made to terrorize his victims to no end, preying on their worst fears, and even their weakness and dreams. Itachi could kill a person by making them so miserable, they suicided.

His lust for Orochimaru's fear knew no bounds.

For some reason, just seeing the terror in those snake-like eyes drove Itachi mad. It was like a drug, to look upon those soft lips and hear them pleading. It was addicting to watch a snake shy in fear of a cat, and it was worse than addicting to have the snake in a corner while the cat toyed with it endlessly before finally striking its blow. Itachi usually left Orochimaru with bruises, cuts, and lacerations that even a blind fool couldn't miss, but that Orochimaru somehow managed to hide. Make-up? Genjutsu? Itachi didn't care. He could enjoy marking his beautiful lover again and again, and eventually, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to hide it. Or he would give up. It was the way Itachi saw his snake-

_Yes, that's right. Mine._

_He is too beautiful for anyone else to touch the way I do-he is too valuable for anyone to even see what he can be. He is mine completely, and yet, he fights me. I have tried binding him-he still resists. He hates me with every fiber of his being, and yet, what I do to him is still not rape. He loves me too much for that, and only I can ever take him. He hates me so much for bringing about this pain, this pleasure, this lover-but for some reason, he still loves me at the same time. Don't let me see you with another, my love-you will suffer for it, and then, you may say I raped you. But for now, you are mine, and mine alone, and if you sleep with another, I may assure and comfort you-you will never sleep again from fear._

_That is not a threat, my love. It is a promise._

"Itachi?"

Itachi turned from the window, staring at the shark-man behind him. "You okay?"

Itachi nodded wordlessly, and Kisame sighed. He hated when Itachi got like this. The days before he left for Orochimaru were usually like this-tense, where Itachi was on edge and bore a predatory grin that showed blood dripping off powerful canine teeth and pooling on the ground, over the prone figure of his victim beneath him-

Kisame shook himself. "Dinner's ready."

Itachi nodded again, still without words, and walked into the kitchen half in a daze. He was going to be vicious this time-his bloodlust was almost overwhelming.

**A/N: Creepy Itachi. But I like how it came out. The in-depth and flashbacks and everything…song lyrics during meditation are partial lyrics from ****Wanderlust by Nightwish. Fantastic song-go to Youtube. And review, otherwise, there is no next chapter!!**


	3. Chapter 3

Three days later, and Orochimaru still couldn't get enough of the lavender.

He was burning it every night, trying to get the scent soaked into his entire room. In his sheets, in the walls, in the floor, everywhere. He wanted to drive Itachi away as fast as he could, and in every way possible. Orochimaru had put off going to sleep for the longest time: he knew tonight was when Itachi was going to show. His entire body screamed at him to get out of the room, but he knew he couldn't-where would he go? And what would everyone else think of him? They didn't even know what was going on-except for Kabuto and Kenshin, that was. Orochimaru sighed and rose from his bed, lighting a match and igniting two more sticks of incense. These he set in a shallow, hanging dish across from several other sticks of incense, above his head and without any danger of being knocked over unless someone deliberately reached up and overturned the metal plate. Orochimaru folded his hands, whispering a last prayer to whatever God he thought was up there, and then turned to get back into bed.

Bloody Sharingan bled their fury straight into his eyes.

Orochimaru gasped with surprise and jumped back, clutching his thin kimono tighter around himself. It was hardly a deterrent, but it was worth a shot. Itachi's only response was a smirk, and he lifted his head nobly so the light hit his face from every angle. The candles cast frightening shadows across Itachi's face, features set in lust unimaginable. Orochimaru took a small step back, trying to put some distance between himself and Itachi. Itachi merely stepped forward, as if mocking Orochimaru by showing him how little control he had.

"Good to see you, my love."

Orochimaru swallowed hard against the Uchiha's treacherous words, trying to force himself to calm down. His breath came rapidly now, for fear of what was to come. "Itachi, listen to me," Orochimaru whispered, trying to talk his way out of the situation, "I know you claim you love me, but that can't possibly be true if this is your way of showing it." Orochimaru's heart was pounding in his ears, and he felt like his chest was going to explode. His entire body broke out in a cold sweat under Itachi's piercing gaze, and Orochimaru suddenly felt like melting into a puddle and oozing out under the door, never to be found again. "Stop this! You have to listen to me!" Orochimaru was growing desperate, but he could see no alternative than to keep going. Desperate times called for desperate measures. "Don't hurt me! Don't this! If you truly loved me, you would respect my decision not to have sex with you! I was a virgin when I met you, and wanted it to stay that way! You're the only person who's ever even touched me, and it was against my will! Don't do this, not if you love me like you say you do!"

For a moment, Itachi seemed to falter. His eyes seemed to soften, and Orochimaru's heart leaped with hope. Maybe…maybe he had gotten through to Itachi! Maybe the Uchiha was finally listening to him-

"I hate lavender. And you know it."

Orochimaru's heart plummeted. Too late, then. And, of course, Itachi was not taking no for an answer-again. But, it was worth a shot. Orochimaru took a step back again, heart pounding like a beating drum. He hadn't tried this before, but it might work…Orochimaru could feel adrenaline coursing through his veins, each and every nerve humming with the energy produced by his fearful brain. He had tried everything else-now, it was time to stop fooling around.

In a flash, Orochimaru had three sticks of incense between his fingers, and had thrown them like kunai.

The distraction was enough as Itachi swatted away the smoldering sticks, and Orochimaru bolted from the room. He slammed open the door and kept running, bare feet pounding the floor as heavily as his racing heart. Breath came in short, panicky gasps, and Orochimaru could feel cold sweat dripping down his every curve. Orochimaru had no idea where to run, but he knew that there was one place he could disappear to-

The roof.

Itachi was afraid of heights.

Orochimaru had discovered this the night when he ran from Akatsuki. He had fled from Itachi, and taken the roof out. Itachi had followed him the entire way, but the second he leapt onto the roof, he faltered and stopped. Orochimaru had gotten away cleanly, and Itachi, apparently, hadn't bothered to give chase again. Now, Orochimaru fought his way to the stairs, knowing that there were ninja along the way who could slow Itachi down. He went past every booby trap he had ever set in the place, doing everything he could to keep ahead of Itachi. He could hear Itachi behind him, heart he footsteps and the sharp draw of breath into strong lungs-Orochimaru bore down harder, whipping around a corner so fast he could feel his body form a parallel to the ground for a moment. He righted himself quickly, and bolted up the set of stars he had turned into two at a time. Itachi seemed to realize where Orochimaru was dragging him, and suddenly seemed twice as fast. Orochimaru reached the top of the stairs and hung a sharp right, using the railing on the stairs to swing himself around. He didn't even stop to attack Itachi-he just kept on, burying himself in the fear that propelled him faster and faster. Orochimaru's lungs were having trouble keeping pace with him at that point: his side ached. His legs were throbbing, and his nose and throat burned from breathing so rapidly. Orochimaru knew it was going to go down to the wire-Itachi wasn't giving up, not so close to the doorway! Orochimaru reached out, grabbed the handle, and bolted out the door-

Onto a narrow catwalk-like strip of flat roof.

The rest of the roof sloped away menacingly down two stories, but Orochimaru pressed on without fear. He knew his way around, and he also knew he had enough level-headedness to catch himself if he fell. He was a sannin, not an Academy student! Did Itachi think that he was as scared as he was? And what was with that, anyway? Why was Itachi so frightened of being exposed at such a height? He could hold himself down with chakra, and right himself if he fell. It wasn't as if he was a helpless child.

Itachi balked two steps out.

Orochimaru backed away a bit more, breathing hard. He bent over, bracing his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Itachi paced like a caged animal across the doorway, glaring at Orochimaru like the devil himself. "You can't stay there forever!" he called, stopping in front of the door. "And I'm losing patience with you, Orochimaru!"

"You can't stay there forever, either," Orochimaru panted, straightening somewhat. Was that-? Itachi's teeth ground together in frustration. The little shit was _smirking_ at him! Orochimaru continued, apparently much more confident. "Ninja will be here any moment to deal with you," Orochimaru said softly. "And I can deal with you from a distance. Besides, don't you need to go home to Pein? What will he think if you don't make it back from your mysterious mission the night before? You can't afford the time, Itachi. I know the reason you leave right after you sleep with me is so you can make it back to Akatsuki in time to avoid suspicion from Pein. Also, so Kabuto doesn't catch you the next morning, but you would kill him if you had the time. Itachi, please, just this once-spare me the pain of being raped by someone I thought I loved."

Itachi's eyes narrowed menacingly. "You know you love me," he growled. "Don't try to deny it, Orochimaru. You love me, more than you love life itself. You wouldn't dare-"

Orochimaru sighed, letting his head hang in sadness. "Itachi, I always knew you had lost it, but this…is there a tumor in your brain, or something? Get a grip! I hate you!" All of a sudden, the fury of the past few encounters welled up in Orochimaru, and he felt himself boiling over. "And I refuse to be your stupid little toy anymore!"

At first, Itachi only looked stunned. Then, his look changed to that of someone who has just been slapped in the face and not taken it well. Orochimaru could see blue chakra now, tapering off Itachi in waves, and swallowed hard, taking a step back. Just because Itachi was afraid of heights didn't mean he wouldn't attack Orochimaru. When Itachi spoke, it was like he was speaking to a confused child.

"You don't know what you want. You're so confused right now…come here, I'll make it much clearer for you…"

Orochimaru took another step back, whimpering softly. It was safe to say he was genuinely scared now. Itachi might even risk his own fear to take Orochimaru's…Orochimaru took another step back-

His foot almost slid off the edge of the roof.

Orochimaru gasped and sprang forward, away from the edge of the roof. If worst came to worst, he could jump, but it was a calculated risk. He knew if he was prepared, he could land correctly, but what if it was a spur-of-the-moment thing? What if he didn't anticipate-? Orochimaru shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Getting off the roof was a bad idea, since he needed to exploit Itachi's every weakness. But Itachi didn't seem to have a weakness anymore! As Orochimaru watched in terror, Itachi began taking long, slow strides out onto the sloped roof, right towards Orochimaru. Every step was another moment Orochimaru couldn't afford to waste. _Do something! _He screamed at himself. _Don't give up now! He'll be worse than ever, now that you've succeeded in defying him-_

As Orochimaru looked around, he could see people beginning to stream out of the complex, gathering around the roof and pointing up at the two on top of it. Orochimaru realized that the commotion in the halls must have awakened them. Orochimaru had set off countless booby traps, hoping to ensnare Itachi in one of them. Itachi had set off the rest, but had somehow kept right on Orochimaru's tail by speeding up once he freed himself. And that was what frightened Orochimaru more than anything-Itachi didn't even care about the prize, so much as he liked the chase. 

Orochimaru looked down amongst the people huddled there, gasps and whispers echoing among them. Orochimaru glanced back to Itachi, heart rate rising again. He needed to do something-Itachi's pace was increasing, and in another few moments, he would be close enough to grab Orochimaru. Orochimaru knew that Itachi's anger was allowing him to get over his apprehension long enough to walk out on the thin walkway on top of the roof, but what about jumping down from it?

Time to find out.

Orochimaru leaned back, allowing himself to fall from the roof. He closed his eyes, relying on his chakra to land gracefully on his feet. But instead, Orochimaru was caught halfway by a ninja scrambling up the wall to provide some assistance with Itachi. The man-Orochimaru knew it was a man by the iron grip, the rippling muscles, and the solid build-jumped back down the wall with his chakra, carrying Orochimaru down and then helping him stand. Orochimaru opened his eyes, trying to turn to see who had rescued him. But he was immediately encircled by the Sound Four and taken inside, followed by several more ninja. But still, Orochimaru couldn't see who had caught him halfway down the wall. And…there was someone else missing…where was Kabuto? He wanted to see him, to ask him how everyone had known that something was wrong tonight and gotten up…doubtless he would know. But Orochimaru was swept up in his guards' motion, almost being dragged inside and into the medical ward. "I'll get Kabuto," Kidomaru promised, and left the group. It was decided that Sakon and Tayuya would stay in the room with Orochimaru until Kabuto came in, and then Tayuya would leave and join Jiroubou in guarding the door. Sakon seemed to understand that Orochimaru was frightened; he guided him to a chair against the wall, next to the door, and helped him sit. Orochimaru sat quietly, not saying a word, one arm around his stomach, as if he was in pain, and the other arm propped up on his knee. The fingers of that hand were intertwined with his hair, pushing it back from his face. Orochimaru was almost doubled over, and he looked sick to his stomach. Sakon crouched next to him, gently placing one hand on Orochimaru's back and the other on his hand. He wrapped his fingers around Orochimaru's wrist, softly, but firmly, pulling it away from his face, freeing his hair to fall over his shoulders. Sakon then reached up, cupping Orochimaru's face in his hand and turning it to face him. Orochimaru gave him a hiss of warning and jerked his head away, but Sakon had caught the signs of distress Orochimaru was sending out. His head hung despondently. His lips quivered as if he was about to cry. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated and golden irises almost watering. His shoulders shook, as if Orochimaru was cold. He was trying to hide it, but Sakon and Tayuya could still see Orochimaru was in pain.

"Wanna talk about it?"

A kunai slammed into the wall behind Tayuya, but the redhead merely raised an eyebrow. "Shall I take that as a definitive 'no,' or should I wait for the snakes to attack me?"

Sakon turned and glared at Tayuya, giving her a look to cut stone. "Don't torture him," he hissed. Then, his expression softened, and he turned back to Orochimaru. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Did he hurt you?"

Orochimaru shook his head, but Sakon wasn't sure which question he was answering. 

"Are you okay?" he repeated. All he got in response was a shrug. Sakon sighed and thought for a moment, bowing his head. There were three ways to do this: direct questioning, indirect questioning, or wait until Kabuto got there and give it some gossip. Sakon decided on direct questioning. It might get him a few pricks in the side, but they were easily dealt with. "Orochimaru-sama, can you please answer me? I need to know what happened to you."

Just then, Kabuto walked in.

Sakon sighed, standing up and letting Kabuto get to Orochimaru. Well, that was putting it lightly-Kabuto rushed over to Orochimaru the second he walked into the room, immediately taking him in his arms and asking him what happened, if he was okay, if he was hurt, if Itachi had done anything to him-

Orochimaru silenced him with a harsh bite to the hand.

One of Kabuto's hands had been on the side of Orochimaru's face, which he promptly took advantage of and bit nastily. Kabuto froze, realizing his mistake of crowding Orochimaru. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I was just worried about you…did you know he was coming?"

Orochimaru found he didn't want to answer the question.

Even so, he nodded, resulting in a cry of horror from Kabuto. "You knew, and you still went back to that room?! All alone, no guard, not even one person who knew what was happening? Orochimaru-sama, really! You could have slept somewhere else, you could have put jutsus on the room, you could have gotten ninja to guard you-! Kami-sama, what could he have done to you, given the chance-?"

"_Shut up!"_

Orochimaru had finally burst, and slapped Kabuto away as hard as he could. He backed away several steps, staring at Kabuto with a burning hatred in his eyes-misplaced hatred, no doubt, but Orochimaru was confused, frightened, and hurt. Kabuto looked shocked, but remained silent. He suspected there was more.

"I can't deal with you right now!" Orochimaru continued, after a stinging moment of silence in the room. "Don't you dare yell at me! Do you have any idea what was going through my mind right before that animal came in and tried to rape me _again?! _Don't you dare try to tell me that I was so stupid about this and that, and that there was so much I could have done to prevent this-and what happens when that all fails? Itachi gets angry, and takes it out on me. He slaughters everyone around me, and then gets rough with me. Do you think I want that to happen? And where would I go? If I was supposed to sleep somewhere else for the night, do you not think he would find me? Honestly, Kabuto! You're smarter than this! Just…just leave me alone, don't talk to me!"

Orochimaru turned and fled the room, shoving Sakon out of the way. The Sound ninja stumbled back, reeling mostly from the shove, but also in shock. Orochimaru had just given Kabuto a _thrashing!_

Tayuya glared and ran out the door after Orochimaru.

Kabuto sighed and collapsed in the seat Orochimaru had vacated, putting his face in his hands. "I know I shouldn't be so upset with him," he whispered, as much to himself as to Sakon. "But I can't believe he neglected to deal with the problem so much…! I know he has a point, that Itachi would take it out on him, but still…" Kabuto exhaled slowly through his palms, then sat up and let his arms fall across his legs. "I'm going to talk to him," he announced, standing up and exiting the room.

Sakon watched him go, totally and completely lost.

**A/N: Guess what! You need to review, otherwise the next chapter doesn't come! Just so everyone is aware, I only update a story if I get one review per chapter. And there's even some smut next chapter!! : ) I promise, it's not that hard to just hi the button and give me a sentence or two about what you liked, didn't like, whatever. As long as there is no disrespect, I welcome all reviews with open arms. Anonymous reviews are enabled; no excuse!!**


	4. Chapter 4

Orochimaru ran back to his room, on the brink of tears. He furiously fought them back, vowing he wouldn't cry. He couldn't show weakness, especially not now! Now was when he needed to prove to everyone how strong he was, and how he could pull through anything…he needed to pull himself together, and fast. Orochimaru bolted into his room, slamming the door closed behind himself and flying into his bedroom. He fell face-first onto his bed, plastering his face to the pillow and trying to smother his tears. Orochimaru took deep breaths, eventually turning over for lack of breath. He lay in the enormous expanse of his black-sheeted bed, arms spread and tears dripping down the sides of his face. Orochimaru allowed a single whimper to escape his throat, suddenly aware of how alone he was.

How alone he had become.

And the tears began to fall.

Desperate sobs wracked Orochimaru's body, and he turned onto his side, facing away from the door. He found himself curling up into a ball, wrapping his arms around his midriff and pulling his legs up towards his chest a bit. Orochimaru couldn't stop crying, what with the memory of how things used to be…with Itachi. They used to be so happy together, stealing short, sweet kisses when no one was looking. They would often cut meetings and go out onto the beach near the Akatsuki's hideaway on the riverbank. But then…then, slowly, but surely, Itachi began to become more and more controlling of Orochimaru, and he would repeatedly abuse him. One night, he raped Orochimaru, and that was the final straw. Orochimaru decided it was time to stand up for himself, and tried to take Itachi's body as vengeance. Itachi left Orochimaru broken once and for all, and Orochimaru had fled the Akatsuki out of terror. He had founded Hidden Sound, and thought he would be safe there. But no! It couldn't ever just…_happen _without a hitch for him! It always had to be difficult! Orochimaru felt his stomach beginning to turn; from what, he had no idea. He slowly got to his feet, wiping the tears off his face and stumbling into the bathroom. Within seconds, he was vomiting into the sink, made sick by the simple stress of the night and force of his tears. Orochimaru held his hair back with one hand, bracing himself on the counter with the other. When he was finished, Orochimaru stood for a moment, panting and trying to determine what his stomach was doing now. Finally, it seemed that the nausea had passed, and Orochimaru straightened, grabbing a towel from the bar behind him and wiping off his face. He rinsed out his mouth, wiped his face again, and walked, very slowly, into the kitchen. He sat down with a glass of water and a bottle of Gatorade, aiming to slowly start rehydrating himself after his dreadful sickness.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru didn't bother to even turn his head. He recognized the voice of the male who had spoken. "Go away," he said sullenly. "I don't want to talk to you."

Kabuto sighed and walked over to Orochimaru, pulling a chair over closer to him and sitting down. He gently placed a hand on Orochimaru's back, allowing it to move in a gentle, circular motion. "Then I won't speak," he said quietly. "And then you won't have to talk to me, either."

Orochimaru sighed, but said nothing. He continued taking long, slow, sips from his glass, just trying to focus on keeping himself hydrated. But Kabuto's hand continued to move comfortingly over his back, and Orochimaru could feel his resolve betraying him. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He allowed himself to say softly:

"I just got sick."

Kabuto nodded understandingly. "Stress. Do you want me to check you over, anyway?"

Orochimaru shrugged vaguely, not giving Kabuto an answer of any sort. Kabuto's hand glowed a gentle green over Orochimaru's back, stilling its back-and-forth motion for a moment. Kabuto then lifted his hand from Orochimaru's back, saying, "You're fine." Orochimaru shrugged again, and Kabuto gave up a sigh of resignation. "Talk to me, love," he whispered, leaning forward and gently kissing Orochimaru's soft-skinned cheek. "Don't shut me out…I want to help you, I promise."

Orochimaru finally set down his glass, turning to face Kabuto and saying, "I don't even want to think about what I'll have to face tomorrow. I just want to go to sleep, alone, and wait until morning to even think about what's happened to me."

For a long time, Kabuto was silent. Then, after thinking over Orochimaru's situation, stood up and said, "Alright. Go to sleep, and we'll see how you feel in the morning." He couldn't imagine anything would happen to Orochimaru-Itachi had fled after Orochimaru had jumped from the roof, and Kabuto couldn't fathom he would return that same night. Maybe the next one-but not the same night. "I'll come and find you in the morning, okay? I'll wake you up, as normal. Is that okay?"

Orochimaru nodded, standing up and embracing Kabuto. "Thank you," he murmured, stepping back, "and I'm sorry."

Kabuto nodded awkwardly, muttering, "Sure," as Orochimaru left for his bedroom. He walked out of the suite, gently shutting the door behind him. Orochimaru had guards everywhere in that room, both in it and outside it. There were guards everywhere except in his bedroom itself. Orochimaru would be fine…Kabuto firmly told himself this, and then left the wing for his own room.

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru knew there was something wrong the second he entered his room.

He took nervous glances around, trying to determine the source of his unease. He could see nothing that would cause such a feeling within him. Orochimaru shed his kimono, sliding into his bed and taking one last look around.

The window was open.

It hadn't been open when he walked into the room, he was sure of it! But he had heard nothing, seen nothing, sensed nothing as far as chakra went-! Orochimaru's breathing increased, and he sat up, one hand sliding back to reach under his pillow for a hidden kunai.

A gloved hand shot out and covered his mouth.

Orochimaru tried to scream, but was suddenly unable to breath. His attacker had covered his nose and mouth, cruelly blocking off all sources of oxygen. Orochimaru thrashed and struggled against the person behind him, trying anything to get at least his nose free to breathe. His consciousness was slowly fading; black spots were dancing in front of his eyes. Orochimaru tried one last time to break free, but then he had grown too weak to fight back anymore. His efforts failed, and Orochimaru grew completely limp in his captor's arms. A veil of red descended upon the world, and then, everything faded to black.

OOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru woke up in darkness.

Only one candle lit the room, giving off a faint scent of sage. Orochimaru knew in a heartbeat that Itachi had come back for him-but the same night?! And now he was going to be furious with him. Sure enough, Itachi's bloody Sharingan were easy to spot in the darkness, which Orochimaru saw immediately. But when he went to withdraw from Itachi's presence, he found himself unable to move. Itachi had bound him tightly by tying his wrists to ankles, forcing him to bend his knees and spread his legs. A collar around his neck, secured to a leash, kept him tied to the bed, and chains around his ankles further restricted his movements. Itachi had gagged him, as well, to keep him from summoning any of the guards he had stationed around his suite. Orochimaru's heart immediately leapt into double speed, driven by fear and adrenaline. His breathing picked up; his nose and throat burned from his fast-paced breathing. Itachi seemed to notice: a slow smirk spread across his face. "Awake, I see," he murmured, shifting closer to Orochimaru. Formerly, he had been sitting on the bed near Orochimaru's bare hips. Now, he moved up a bit to reach out and gently caress the side of Orochimaru's face. "My apologies, love, but it was the only way I could do it humanely," he continued, still mockingly stroking Orochimaru like a domestic pet. "I know you hate being bound so. I didn't want to hurt you." He leaned over Orochimaru's vulnerable body, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. The kisses continued all down the side of Orochimaru's face, down along his jaw, and onto his neck. Itachi's hands began roaming Orochimaru's body, spread out beautifully before him in a gorgeous display of porcelain-like skin. Sinfully soft hands traced down Orochimaru's stomach, gently petting the impossibly sot skin they found there. One of Itachi's hands curved around into Orochimaru's lover back, sliding down between his sheets and his rump, gripping the firm muscle he found there and kneading at it with one hand. The other continued to pet Orochimaru's stomach, extracting a breathy moan from Orochimaru. He tried his best to arch his body away from the touches, but Itachi was everywhere with him, showering him with unwanted attention and affection. Sharp teeth bit into Orochimaru's neck; lips sealed over the bleeding wound, sucking hard enough to raise a dark stain of blood under paper skin. Orochimaru whimpered at the harsh treatment; Itachi's nails were beginning to dig into his ass, and the bite on his neck stung like the sting of a bee. Still, he couldn't fight Itachi. Not if he wanted to live to see the sun rise. Itachi's hands continued to move over Orochimaru's body, one sliding down between his legs from his stomach. Orochimaru's body began to shake-he knew what was coming next-

Itachi brutally shoved two fingers into Orochimaru's entrance.

Orochimaru tried to scream, arching his back against Itachi's touches and strokes, lifting his hips and trying to pull himself away from Itachi. But, by lifting his hips, he had inadvertently given Itachi more room to move his fingers. Itachi took advantage of the situation Orochimaru had presented him with, pushing one more finger into Orochimaru's entrance. Orochimaru felt the sting of tears against the backs of his eyes, and fiercely fought them down. He wouldn't cry! He couldn't give Itachi the satisfaction of seeing him break down! But it was too late. Two tears slipped free, trailing down Orochimaru's cheeks, a painful reminder of what was being done to him. Itachi continued to stroke Orochimaru inside and out, taking advantage of him without shame or remorse. Orochimaru wasn't sure what to do at that point: there really wasn't anything he _could _do.

Itachi stripped himself amazing fast for someone using only one hand to do so, and then pulled himself out of Orochimaru. The snake allowed himself a small sigh of relief; Itachi would be a moment, wouldn't he? Orochimaru's fast-beating heart prayed he would be. He needed to calm himself down a little before-

Too late.

Itachi shoved his entire hard length into Orochimaru, extracting another strangled cry from the tortured snake. Orochimaru began struggling again, trying his bonds, only to find that Itachi had tied him so cruelly that struggling would cause such terrible rope burns that Orochimaru would bleed. But Orochimaru kept trying, even as blood began soaking into the ropes and dripping down his wrists and ankles. Itachi didn't seem to care; he kept slamming mindlessly into Orochimaru, losing himself in the pleasure of the moment. Blood was coating his cock from Orochimaru's torn entrance, but Itachi still didn't care. Deep-rooted hatred began to blossom in Orochimaru's heart-along with incredible sadness. He had loved Itachi so deeply, for so long-and Itachi couldn't return that. When he grew abuse, Orochimaru thought it would be best for them both if he left. But no-Itachi had to follow him, and make it all come crashing down! Orochimaru felt the sobs wracking his body grow worse, and the tears continue to fall, but he didn't even care anymore. All he wanted was Itachi _away from him-!_

Itachi came hard into him with a low, guttural moan of pleasure, and Orochimaru felt so relieved. Itachi would leave now…and sure enough, he pulled back, leaving Orochimaru at last. Orochimaru waited-usually, Itachi would let him go, and then leave. Itachi put his clothes back on, using the sheets to clean himself up. But, he didn't even go for the bonds. Instead, he drew back a fist, and let it fly. Orochimaru was struck in the head, and felt himself losing consciousness again. But not quite…Itachi raised a hand, hitting him again, and Orochimaru could suddenly hear the Uchiha screaming at him: "I loved you, and you _dare _defy me? Reject me?! You don't even know what you want, you worthless little shit! I don't know why I put up with you anymore!" Orochimaru tried even harder to break away as Itachi continued to ruthlessly beat him, tears smeared across his face by Itachi's hands. Itachi began to spread his strikes more, burying his fists into Orochimaru's stomach, shoulders, and even arms. He repeatedly berated Orochimaru for rejecting him, as he put it, and refusing him when he had given so much. Orochimaru had given up at that point: he was sobbing uncontrollably, trying to break free desperately, trying to somehow communicate with Itachi, tell him everything-! But it seemed Itachi was completely and totally unwilling to listen. Orochimaru's whimpers and cries fell on deaf ears, and Itachi heartlessly continued to beat Orochimaru. But, finally, Orochimaru felt consciousness slipping away from him, and welcomed the sweet release from the pain. He couldn't even begin to fathom what Itachi was planning-if he was just going to leave him here, unable to move, Orochimaru didn't even know what he was going to do. No one would know until he didn't show for anything next day…wait! Kabuto! He was going to come for him in the morning…oh, thank God! It was only the night Orochimaru would have to endure…one last tear slid free, and Orochimaru found himself cursing Itachi with his last conscious thought:

_Damn you, Itachi. May whatever God you believe in damn you to the darkest depths of hell for what you're doing to me!_

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto woke up the next morning, as usual. He cleaned himself up, dressed, ate breakfast, and then headed over to Orochimaru's room. He had to wonder how Orochimaru slept that previous night-doubtless, he was restless from fear. Hell, Kabuto was restless that night, as well. He couldn't stop worrying. He felt like he had forgotten to check something very important, like someone was right behind him, like someone was watching him…the entire night! Like there was an unwelcome guest in the complex. Kabuto had tried to just shake it off, like he was just being paranoid, but he still couldn't get rid of the feeling. Now, he was just hoping that he had been right about last night, and that Itachi wouldn't come back on the very same night. Kabuto entered the suite without knocking, only bothering to knock on the bedroom door. He and Orochimaru had grown too close for Kabuto to bother anymore with knocking. But Kabuto could feel his pulse pick up when Orochimaru's entire room was silent-even the guards seemed on edge, and Kabuto could read it in their every aspect. Their faces were tight. Their hands were twitching towards their weapons at every spook of a shadow. They looked tense, with their muscles coiled and nerves strung. Kabuto quietly slipped past them, entering Orochimaru's bedroom without a sound.

Shock greeted him.

Orochimaru lay out across his bed, bound and gagged, unconscious. Kabuto rushed over to him, immediately reaching for the sheets and yanking them up and over Orochimaru's bare lower regions. "Get in here!" he called desperately, pulling out a kunai and beginning to hack at the bonds Itachi had tied Orochimaru down with. He had to give Itachi credit for the quality of the bonds: they were expertly placed so movement was impossible, and struggling was painful. The collar was a choke, which made Kabuto's blood, which was already sizzling, boil over. The door slammed open, and Orochimaru's guards rushed in, stopping short when they saw Kabuto struggling to undo Orochimaru's restraints. "Help me with him," Kabuto grunted, slicing at the ropes around Orochimaru's wrists and ankles. The ninja immediately set to work, working the collar off, pulling the sheets more over Orochimaru and then wrapping them around his waist, stripping the bed of all the bondage that had come from last night…Kabuto lifted himself up onto the bed, pulling Orochimaru's unconscious form into his lap and gently cradling him in his arms. Healing chakra sparked at his hands, and Kabuto lowered his palm to Orochimaru's forehead. He tenderly brushed away a few stray locks of hair, then pressed his hand to Orochimaru's soft, porcelain skin. He slowly brought Orochimaru back into the waking world, watching him intently with worried eyes, searching for any sign of pain. Orochimaru's eyes slowly opened, and he suddenly started at the sight of so many people around him. Kabuto quieted him, motioning to the rest of the ninja to back off. He wrapped his arms more tightly around Orochimaru's shoulders, pulling him back into his lap and turning Orochimaru's head into his shoulder. Orochimaru seemed to welcome the embrace, and his breathing soon seemed to return to relatively normal.

His breaths hitched.

Kabuto glanced down, suddenly painfully aware of the dampness soaking into his shirt. He felt sorrow stab at his heart like a sword, realizing just how bad Orochimaru had been tortured. He slowly rose to his feet, helping Orochimaru to his feet and throwing the kimono next to his bed over his shoulders. Orochimaru clutched it over his body like a lifeline, and then allowed Kabuto to put an arm around his shoulders and guide him downstairs to the medical wing of the complex. The entire walk down was like a blur to Orochimaru: doors, walls, faces, people…everything just blurred into one big splash of unintelligible color. Kabuto finally directed him into a room off to the right, switched on the light, and softly closed the door behind himself. "I called Kenshin," Kabuto said quietly. "He should be here any second."

Orochimaru nodded quietly, but said nothing. He walked over to the chair against the left wall and sank down into it, wrapping his arms around his middle and bending over slightly, as if nauseous. Kabuto sighed and ran his hand over the horrible bruises on Orochimaru's body, feeling the skin and muscle shiver as Orochimaru's pain was made known. _Pain, or fear,_ Kabuto told himself. _Is he afraid of me…? Is he afraid of being touched? Oh, Kami-sama, Orochimaru-sama, what has he done to you…?_

Just as Kabuto was pondering this, the door opened, and Kenshin walked in. "Hell, Orochimaru, what beat you up?"

"An Uchiha," Orochimaru said bitterly. Kenshin immediately realized what had happened, and his gaze softened. He stepped up to Orochimaru, gesturing for Kabuto to hold him. Kabuto shook his head, instead kneeling down next to Orochimaru and taking one of his hand sin his own. Orochimaru snatching his hand away, as if burned, but Kabuto persisted. He stood up, instead draping his arms around Orochimaru and then lowering himself to the seat next to Orochimaru. He held Orochimaru in his embrace for the entire time Kenshin was checking Orochimaru over…

And long after that, as well.

**A/N: So there you have it, folks. A ton of emotion, a little action, definitely romance, both fluffy and smutty, and a good deal of swearing. So don't complain that I left out anything amazingful!! But review anyway, please? Cookies!!**


	5. Chapter 5

Kenshin sighed, standing up straight. "I can't do anything," he finally said. "Anything that I might need to look at or heal, he probably won't let me touch. I can heal the wounds from where Itachi beat him, but I'm not sure if he'll be comfortable being touched around an area where he was beaten so savagely…"

Kabuto shook his head. "He'll let me," he assured Kenshin, shifting so he was more facing Orochimaru. "Calm down," he whispered, reaching up and gently stroking Orochimaru's hair. Orochimaru hardly had any reaction; he allowed Kabuto to touch him, but he clearly wasn't comfortable with it. Kabuto gently worked his hands over Orochimaru's face, healing the bruises as fast as he could. He knew Orochimaru was in pain, and wanted to ease that, but he found that sudden movements would cause Orochimaru to start and jerk away from him. Then, Kabuto would have to start all over again, trying to get Orochimaru used to his touch again. Kenshin stood on the other side of the room, watching in amazement as Kabuto seemed to work his magic over Orochimaru. He would never understand…what ever went on between those two?

"He's all healed."

Kenshin shook his head. "I'm going to take it you didn't get between his legs-?"

"_No!"_

Kenshin shrugged. "I wasn't watching half the time, you know…"

Kabuto sighed. "If he wasn't so traumatized, we might have appreciated that more," he said dryly. Kabuto turned back to Orochimaru, offering a hand. Orochimaru slid his hand into Kabuto's, slowly standing up with Kabuto's help-and a wince of pain. Kabuto inwardly flinched, knowing how much pain Orochimaru must be in. Itachi wasn't a gentle lover, Kabuto knew that much. He would have to work with Orochimaru to get over his new-found fear of being touched anywhere remotely close to his hips. Kabuto had seen it developing, but hadn't known the cause until now. He hadn't even tried to touch Orochimaru below his stomach, knowing that Orochimaru wouldn't allow it. But sooner or later, they would have to work past the fears Orochimaru was developing.

"So, what are we going to do? That couldn't have been it. Itachi's gonna come back."

Kabuto exhaled through flared nostrils, thinking for a moment. It was true; Itachi was definitely going to be back, and soon. He wasn't done with Orochimaru, that much was certain. Kabuto didn't want Orochimaru hurt ever again the way he was, let alone so soon. Orochimaru couldn't handle the trauma. "We'll have to keep him close," Kabuto finally said. "If there are a lot of people around, Itachi should be deterred. We could at least fight him off. What I'm worried about, though, is Itachi getting mad and going on a rampage. He could destroy an entire village single-handedly. I don't want us to lose so many lives over this. I can sacrifice a few, but honestly, this is ridiculous!"

Kenshin nodded. "We could have the Sounds establish a barrier around him right before he goes to sleep. Itachi can't get through a pre-established barrier, can he?"

Kabuto sighed. "I don't think so, but it would have to cover even the floor and the ceiling," he said. "As long as it's a strong barrier, not even a mental jutsu should be able to get through. The Sounds are perfectly capable of putting up such a barrier-and, just in case, they can put up an inner barrier, as well. And we'll have guards on the inside, as well-I'll stay with Orochimaru-sama, and Kimimaro can, too. A few people he trusts. And then have a load of people on the outside. That should be enough to keep even Itachi out."

Kenshin nodded slowly. "That should work," he said. "Well, we'll have to do it every night…until Itachi is dead."

Kabuto gave another sigh, this time, of defeat. "That could take a while," he murmured. "Can Orochimaru-sama hold out that long? Doubtless, the stress of this entire affair is going to drive us all up the wall, but Orochimaru-sama is pretty much already on the ceiling…"

"I'm right next to you," Orochimaru said dryly. "And if you're lucky, you _won't _be stuck to the ceiling by the time I'm done with you." But, even as Orochimaru uttered the words, he knew he didn't mean them. His eyes couldn't meet Kabuto's; his head was down; his hands were together in front of him, fingers interlaced and palms up. Kabuto could tell that Orochimaru was trying to muster the courage to act like himself, but was failing with his recent trauma. Kabuto set a hand on his shoulder, gently turning Orochimaru to face him.

"Don't worry about it," he said softly. "I swear, I'll protect you…whatever happens, I won't let that happen to you again. You did so well fighting him off the first time-I can help you, so it happens again and again, and he can never catch you. And then, we get him out of the way for good. Orochimaru-sama, you don't deserve this. You shouldn't have to live in fear."

Orochimaru sighed. "Look, can we just…worry about this later? I want to get something to eat…"

"Stop dodging it," Kenshin interjected smoothly. "You can't run from this, Orochimaru. Or, even if you can, you can't run for a long time. Just work with us, here. Deal with the problem. This kid wants to help you; let him. Don't treat us like we know nothing."

Orochimaru's mouth opened, as if he was fully prepared to sit nails back at Kenshin, but after a moment of silence, Orochimaru's mouth snapped shut again. He lifted his head, tossing his hair arrogantly, and stalked past Kenshin with his nose in the air. Kabuto watched him go, one eyebrow raised and his arms folded across his chest. He turned his gaze to Kenshin, about to ask a question, when the door abruptly slammed. Kabuto flinched as the sound of shattering glass filled the room, clenching his eyes shut and tipping his had down towards his shoulder. Kenshin sighed. "He's always been like this," he said dejectedly, "with hating to be wrong, and such. He thinks he's got the last word. I'm not sure if he's irritated, angry, messed up, or just got rubbed the wrong way."

"He's probably on the roof," Kabuto suggested. "That's where he goes when he wants to be alone. Or when he wants to brood, or to think."

Kenshin smiled. "You really do know him, huh?" he said with a grin. "Our dear Orochimaru is truly a hard one to figure out. You seem to have him all sorted out."

Kabuto offered Kenshin a small smile, glancing around for the source of the shattered glass. Ah, there it was: an entire shelf had fallen in the shaking of the walls, spilling empty glass containers onto the floor. "Well, it's certainly difficult to place his mood," he offered. "He has a tendency to bottle everything up, and then explode later, often for apparently no reason. There may or may not be a trigger. Orochimaru-sama hates failure more than anything else, closely followed by being wrong. He loves the scent of lavender, and burns it to get to sleep. Something no one knows: he hates water. His main chakra affinity is earth."

Kenshin smiled. "His second chakra affinity is fire, and then air, and then water. Yes, as you said, he hates it."

Kabuto smiled in return. "Well, I better go calm him down before he starts taking advantage of being left alone for a time."

Kenshin nodded, waving a hand at Kabuto. "Go," he said, "by all means. Our drama queen won't take well to being left alone, as you said. Bring him some food, too. He'll sweeten up a little."

"Thanks," Kabuto said dryly. "But I doubt it. We don't have any taiyaki on hand."

Kenshin gave Kabuto a smile-one that clearly said that he knew something Kabuto didn't, and he wasn't planning on sharing his wisdom. "I wouldn't be so sure," he said slowly, and then he, too exited the room.

Kabuto was confused, but headed for the kitchen anyway.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

He found Orochimaru leaning on the counter in the kitchen, munching on cookies.

He announced himself with an exasperated sigh, drawing a sharp glance from Orochimaru. But then, he suddenly seemed to see who was standing next to him, and muttered through a mouthful of cookie: "Don't tell Jiroubou."

Kabuto laughed, walking over to Orochimaru and grabbing the package of cookies that Orochimaru was currently eating from. "Chocolate chip? That might just make him cry," Kabuto remarked, replacing the package before Orochimaru had a chance to wrestle him for it. "Anyway, I'm going to take it this is comfort food."

Orochimaru nodded, shoving another cookie into his mouth. He said nothing, so Kabuto continued. "Look, I understand you're traumatized. And I can't even begin to fathom what you're going through right now. But you can't just…shut us out." Kabuto fumbled with his words, trying to find the right way to express himself. He needed Orochimaru to see that he wanted to help, but didn't want to crowd him. "You need to let us help, and try to talk to us. Don't keep all your emotions bottled up inside…you don't need to keep it all to yourself, you know. It's really not good for you."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Jumping off a building isn't good for me, either. And yet, I do it on a daily basis."

"Speaking of things bad for you," Kabuto said dryly, reaching over and stealing the box of cookies. Orochimaru let out a whine of complaint, but managed to steal one last cookie before Kabuto gave him a scolding glare slightly reminiscent to a slap on the wrist and stowed the cookies in the pantry. "How may have you had?"

"Almost half the box."

Kabuto sighed and rolled his eyes. "Don't eat any more," he scolded gently. Orochimaru rolled his eyes, muttering something unintelligible and undoubtedly murderous that Kabuto couldn't hear, nor wished to hear. "Hey, I don't want to be the victim of the training session that works that off," Kabuto said defensively. "Take it out on someone who you can afford to lose."

This brought the smallest of smiles to Orochimaru's face, and he ducked his head, letting his hair cover his emotion. Kabuto felt a smile tug at the corners of his own lips, and crossed the room, back to Orochimaru. He gently lifted the sannin's hair, tucking it behind his ear and bending over a bit to put himself on eye level with Orochimaru.

"Much better."

A small, peach flush rose to Orochimaru's cheeks, which Kabuto thought was adorable. Orochimaru didn't blush pink-his skin was so white to begin with, he blushed peach. Kabuto had caught him one time with his entire face so flushed it almost looked normal. Granted, Orochimaru had been in intense agony and stress of body…his arms were kind of decaying on his body…Kabuto shook it off, gently pushing back a bit more of Orochimaru's hair. "Come on, such a pretty face, hidden behind all this mess?" he teased, giving Orochimaru a gentle smile. "Don't be so ashamed of yourself. You're not a wallflower-that's just not you. Don't act like one." Kabuto placed a gentle kiss on the side of Orochimaru's face, and then released the hair he was holding back. "Come find me when you're ready to talk. I'm always open." Kabuto decided to leave then; crowding Orochimaru or pushing him was always a bad thing. He quietly exited the kitchen, leaving Orochimaru to his own devices. If he was lucky, Orochimaru would come around quickly enough to call him back, or at least come after him. Kabuto knew, though, that Orochimaru needed to come to him at his own pace. Rushing things never went well around one very temperamental sannin.

"Kabuto!"

Kabuto paused, halfway down the hallway going away from the kitchen. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama?" he asked, turning slightly back to Orochimaru. Orochimaru jogged up to him, stopping a few feet away and approaching Kabuto much more slowly.

"Look, Kabuto, about last night, I'm sorry…I just..."

Kabuto waited, but Orochimaru couldn't seem to find his voice again. After Orochimaru had allowed his voice to trail off, he couldn't even seem to muster the strength to try again. Kabuto gave him a minute, but then decided to step in. "It's alright," he whispered. "What, about telling me not to talk to you again? It's alright. I know, I know…you were under a lot of pressure, and you were stressed, and so on and so forth. You don't have to make excuses."

Orochimaru was still silent. It seemed he had nothing left to say. Kabuto stepped closer to him, lifting his face with a hand under Orochimaru's chin. "Don't worry about it." He leaned in, hand sliding around the back of Orochimaru's head, and softly pressed his lips to Orochimaru's. At first, the snake seemed startled at kabuto's actions, but he made no attempt to pull away. He finally relaxed, seeming to melt into Kabuto's arms and the genin worked his magic over him. Kabuto moved even closer, sliding his other arm around Orochimaru's waist to hold him close. Orochimaru still didn't seem to mind, so Kabuto pressed on, giving a deeper, fuller kiss, teasing at Orochimaru's lips with his tongue. Orochimaru returned the kiss, and Kabuto could feel Orochimaru wrapping his arms around his neck. The sannin's mouth opened underneath his, and Kabuto found himself unable to resist. Those hot, full lips, practically begging him for-

"No."

Orochimaru broke away, hands trailing down to rest on Kabuto's shoulders. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "but I shouldn't have done that."

Kabuto shook his head, letting his hands fall to Orochimaru's slender sides. "It was my fault," he apologized. "I'm sorry." His hands came off Orochimaru's sides, and Orochimaru's arms dropped back to himself. The two exchanged another brief apology, and then each headed in the opposite direction. Still, Kabuto couldn't shake the memory of that kiss-that one, bitter-sweet, beautiful kiss, the one that sent shivers down his spine and at the same time, set his body on fire…never before had he dared to touch such a beautiful creature, never before had he even thought about wanting such a creature…! And yet, here he was, almost begging for him to hold him in his arms, to comfort him, to be there for him, hell, maybe even be a lover to him-!

"Always knew you were a snake charmer."

Kabuto gave a cry of surprise as Kenshin seemed to appear from nowhere-the fact was, Kabuto had just turned a corner. He let go of a deep breath, laughing slightly at the same time, and pressed one hand to the wall. "Scared me," he said lightly. "So, you were saying…?"

"Snake charmer." Kenshin jerked his head in the general direction Orochimaru had taken off in. "He's so gorgeous, untamable-and you just slipped the bridle right over his head. Whether he realizes it or not." Kenshin threw Kabuto a wink and breezed past, hiking his pants up with a groan as he did so. Kabuto made a face resembling disgust, shook his head, and walked away. But still, Kenshin's words lingered in his mind:

Damn, he had seen that?!

OOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru slipped effortlessly through the hallways, using the stone as a method of transportation. He had sunk down into the stone, and then began racing through the complex as fast as he could. Occasionally, Orochimaru would jump out of the walls to see where he was. But, for the most part, he fully intended to continue in the walls for as long as he could. He didn't want any human contact for at least the rest of the day, and so, he was on his way to the roof. He could always be alone up there, and the walls were always the fastest way to get there. Orochimaru burst free from the stone with a spectacular explosion of streaking colors, all created from his body launching upwards and spiraling back down. Orochimaru landed cat-footed on the roof, and checked to make sure he hadn't left a hole where he had erupted from the tiled roof. Nothing. Orochimaru gave a small huff of relief and turned around, heading for the east end of the roof.

A silver-haired figure stood, back turned to him, where Orochimaru usually sat.

Orochimaru recognized the short, red-beaded hair, the purple kimono, and the pale skin as Kimimaro's. He approached the teen, announcing his presence with footsteps that were audible-for a change. Kimimaro turned, looking slightly annoyed at first that he had been disturbed, but the second he saw Orochimaru, his gaze softened. He gave Orochimaru a gentle smile, quietly asking about him. Orochimaru waved off the question, assuring Kimimaro he was fine, butt he teen still seemed to have something to say-something he couldn't quite spit out. Orochimaru decided to leave it for a moment, and sat down at the edge of the roof, where he could easily look over most of the village. Kimimaro, however, remained standing, but kept taking nervous glances at Orochimaru, as if he was afraid something had happened to Orochimaru that he might catch. Finally, after several minutes of the awkward silence, Orochimaru bothered to break it.

"What do you keep giving me that look for?"

Kimimaro flushed a deep pink, averting his eyes from Orochimaru's. He slowly lowered himself to sit next to his master, but Orochimaru could tell Kimimaro was stalling for time. He gave Kimimaro an expectant glance, and Kimimaro blushed even darker. Finally, he took a deep breath, and seemed to have his solution. He leaned forward, one arm settling around Orochimaru's shoulders. Orochimaru found his heart beating faster-_don't tell me-Kimi, too?_

Kimimaro kissed him.

Orochimaru was surprised, to say the least: surprised enough not to move, and let the kiss settle. But, then, the shock set in, and Orochimaru shoved Kimimaro away with a small noise of disproval. Still, Kimimaro seemed not to care. He allowed Orochimaru his space, but he stared intently at the snake sannin for a moment. At last, both regained their senses, and Orochimaru dealt Kimimaro a full, hard, brutal slap. Kimimaro allowed his master to punish him for the gesture, but neither moved apart. Kimimaro offered his version of an explanation:

"Who do you want?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What kind of a question is that?!" he asked incredulously.

Kimimaro shrugged. "I saw you kissing Kabuto," he said vaguely, "but you pushed him away. I thought you would want me instead…"

Orochimaru shook his head. "If this is a matter of who's a better kisser, you would take that cake. But Kimi, I don't think I would want that kind of a relationship with you…"

Kimimaro sighed with defeat. "Had to try," he said dejectedly. "What, you're going with Kabuto?"

"Kimi, I can't have a relationship right now," Orochimaru insisted earnestly. "If I did, Itachi would be furious with me. He'd think I was cheating. And the chances were, he would harm my lover, whoever it was. Don't force that upon me."

Kimimaro nodded, standing up. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Within the second, he had leapt into the air with a blur of lavender robes, and was heading off in the opposite direction Orochimaru was currently facing. Orochimaru sighed, letting his head hang in sadness.

He loved Kabuto, but he loved him too much to show it.

**A/N: Kenshin is everywhere, lol…well, review, please. It makes me happy, and brings out the next chapter much quicker. Sorry for the delay, but I had ****writer's block soooooo much…I finally got past it, though, so the next update should be much better. Review!!**


	6. Chapter 6

_Wake up  
When will things be good enough for you  
To see all that we can be  
I'm sick of playin' games  
And actin' like we never care  
That we're never there_

_We pay attention for only seconds_

Orochimaru stood in front of his bathroom mirror, brushing his mirror. The morning was the worst time of the day, he decided. He had slept in Kabuto's room, with hundreds of guards around him and the Sound Four holding a barrier. He had heard commotion outside in the middle of the night, but later learned that it was Tayuya and Jiroubou, fighting. Again. The sannin had broken the two up, sent them to neutral corners, and then threatened them with individual punishments before they settled down to pout for the rest of the night. They all took turns sleeping; every so often, a new member of the Sounds would be woken up to stand guard. The entire process was exhausting to both Orochimaru and his ninja; particularly Kabuto. The genin was up half the night, using checking on him as an excuse. But Orochimaru knew the real reason: Kabuto was worried. And Orochimaru could hardly take the stress, himself: he had finally fallen asleep at midnight, and slept fitfully until the morning. And now, Kabuto had insisted upon making coffee for himself and whoever else wanted/needed it, and sent Orochimaru off to clean himself up for the day. Orochimaru was just finishing up his hair; he had already brushed his teeth and gotten dressed.

But what was he going to do about the dark circles under his eyes…?

_Look at you  
Look at me  
There's never any us  
Can't you see all we can become  
We can shine like the sun  
If we believe that  
two stars are brighter than one  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at you  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at me_

A knock on the door interrupted Orochimaru's thoughts, and he let out a sigh of frustration. They couldn't keep this up. This was never going to get any better, was it? "What?" he called, sounding tired and spent. Already! It was barely daybreak…

"It's Kenshin," the person answered. "Almost done?"

Orochimaru set down the comb he was using on his hair, sighing with the sheer stress of living. At this point, it took so much to simply get through the day. "Yeah," Orochimaru finally answered. "Why? Do you need something?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," Kenshin answered. "I need your ass out here. We have a solution to your problem: we're switching bases. And if he still finds you, we go with our original plan. I wasn't sure if he knows where any of our other bases are, and that's why I didn't suggest it earlier. But Kabuto says that last time he met with Sasori, the piece o' shit had no clue we had more than one base. So let's go! Take a waffle to go!"

Orochimaru groaned. Now, of all times! But he put away his hairbrush, opening the door and giving Kenshin a glare before walking past him with a sniff of arrogance. The old man smiled, and then left without another word.

Orochimaru walked into the kitchen, almost right into Kabuto's arms.

_Listen the way we feel is not just  
About you or me  
It's the harmony  
Just give in  
Cuz together we'll be brighter than just any star  
A work of art_

Both men flushed and side-stepped around each other, Orochimaru going deeper into the kitchen, and Kabuto stepping out of it. He walked up to Kenshin, breaking into a jog for a moment to catch up to the old man. A hand on his shoulder stopped Kenshin from going much farther, and Kabuto stepped in front of Kenshin to speak with him. Orochimaru heard them whispering, but couldn't catch the content of their conversation. He knew it was about him; why else would they bother lowering their voices? Orochimaru poured himself a mug full of coffee, grabbed a bagel from the bread box in the corner of the counter, and sat down with both. He took several bites of the bagel, and then seemed to decide otherwise. His tongue snapped out, wrapped around the entire bagel, and pulled it down his throat, swallowing it whole. Orochimaru then began calmly drinking his coffee, as if nothing unusual had happened. Neither Kabuto nor Kenshin had noticed; Orochimaru didn't care to draw attention to the fact that what he had just done would hardly qualify as "eating breakfast" in any sane person's mind.

_We'll make the sky bright  
We'll light it, you and I_

Kabuto and Kenshin were through exchanging words, it seemed: Kenshin nodded, said, "Okay," and walked away. Orochimaru caught the door opening and closing; Kabuto turned to him and walked back into the kitchen. "Everything's already been set up at the other base; we don't even have to take anything with us. When you're ready, we'll leave."

_Look at you  
Look at me  
There's never any us  
Can't you see all we can become_

_We can shine like the sun  
If we believe that  
two stars are brighter than one  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at you  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at me_

Orochimaru exhaled slowly through his nostrils, setting his mug of coffee down on the table. He began turning it back and forth absently between his hands, staring fixatedly on the swirling coffee inside. Kabuto knew, though, what was going through Orochimaru's mind: terrible fear, unbelievable worry, and unbridled nerves. Kabuto sighed, standing up, and began moving around the kitchen to hide his own nervous behavior. When Kabuto was nervous, he had a tendency to try to hide it, however possible. But, there really wasn't much Kabuto could do. He had wiped down the counter, cleaned out the sink, and emptied the dishwasher, and then washed his hands. Finally, the genin sat back down-after killing only fifteen minutes. Orochimaru was still sitting at the table, nervously fiddling with his coffee. He had hardly taken another sip since Kabuto left him.

_Is it too much ask  
That you put us first  
Oh  
I feel like we're last in our universe  
And that's not where we ought to be_

"Are you okay?"

Orochimaru gave Kabuto's question an ambiguous shrug. The gesture made him look lost, alone, and confused. It made Kabuto want to just take him in his arms, to hold him, and comfort him, and tell him that everything was going to be okay…but Kabuto knew that he couldn't do that. Orochimaru would probably kill him. But…there was one thing he could do.

Kabuto leaned forward…and kissed Orochimaru.

_Look at you  
Look at me  
There's never any us  
Can't you see all we can become  
We can shine like the sun  
If we believe that  
two stars are brighter than one_

This time, Orochimaru wasn't even surprised by Kabuto's motions. Kabuto had done it so slowly, and Orochimaru had seen it coming. He'd been kissed before, and by Kabuto, no less! The silver-haired teen slowly put his hand around the back of Orochimaru's neck, and the two slowly turned to face each other. Orochimaru leaned forward, as well, and his eyes slowly fluttered closed by the time his lips met Kabuto's. The kiss was electrifying. Warmth flooded Orochimaru's body at the contact, and he felt like he had suddenly come alive. Kabuto seemed to sense it, too: he leaned into the kiss, pulling Orochimaru across the gap between them and into his lap. Orochimaru settled easily sideways across Kabuto's thighs, leaning into the kiss and wrapping one arm around Kabuto's shoulders. He couldn't even think about what the consequences for his actions would be: he just wanted to be near Kabuto, touching him, kissing him, feeling his red-hot, liquefying touch…

_Look at you  
Look at me  
There's never any us  
Can't you see all we can become  
We can shine like the sun  
If we believe that  
two stars are brighter than one  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at you  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at me_

Kabuto kissed Orochimaru even deeper, pushing his tongue past his master's slack lips and into his mouth. Orochimaru's mouth was hot, and tasted sweet, not like the cold, frigid taste Kabuto had imagined. Orochimaru's personality was so cold, and he was half snake…a cold-blooded reptile. Why shouldn't his mouth taste like frozen snow, or darkest shadow? But no…no, he was hot as lava, and sweet as sin. Kabuto now breathed in that sin, running one hand down Orochimaru's side, over slight curves and smooth hips. Orochimaru stiffened, but relaxed again at Kabuto's touch. He knew Kabuto…he trusted him.

_C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at you  
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon... Look at me_

Dare he say it…? He loved him.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Aw…they're so cute together."

"I have twenty bucks that we are going to get so brutally murdered later…"

"I have twenty-five bucks that says that neither of them have any idea we're here."

Tayuya, Jiroubou, Sakon and Ukon, and Kidomaru were all in Orochimaru's bedroom, watching their master and his apprentice as they kissed. They were supposed to be getting a scroll for Kenshin: they had gotten…well, sidetracked, to put it delicately. Tayuya had noticed when Kabuto first kissed Orochimaru: she was walking past the open door, and caught the two as they leaned in. Sakon and Ukon had noticed Tayuya motionless in the doorway, and joined her there, closing the door slightly. Then Kidomaru had come over, and the door closed almost all the way. And then Jiroubou came over, looking to be included for once, and the door was now almost completely closed. No one could help themselves, it seemed. Tayuya was practically squealing with glee: Orochimaru ad Kabuto were so _perfect _for each other! Things weren't made worse by the fact that they were both adorable, and that they looked so sexy kissing each other like there was no tomorrow…Sakon and Ukon rolled their eyes muttered a bit, but other than that, seemed enthralled by the display. Jiroubou looked ready to hurl, but too enraptured to look away. And Kidomaru…well, the best way to describe his otherwise-unreadable look was to say "interested." Either way, everyone was praying they didn't get caught. No one wanted to die because Orochimaru flipped out on them. But it was so worth it for the gossip…! Tayuya had a feeling she would be very popular for a few weeks.

Jiroubou sneezed.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru and Kabuto suddenly broke their kiss at the sound of a sneeze. Orochimaru felt a flush rush to his face at the position he had wound up in: almost completely tangled in Kabuto, sitting on the genin's lap. Kabuto gently helped Orochimaru stand up, then rose himself. He glanced towards Orochimaru's room, the direction from which the noise had come. "Alright, Jiroubou," he sighed, stepping up next to Orochimaru. The sannin was touched and slightly embarrassed that one of Kabuto's hands slid into his own, and he felt himself blushing again. He looked away, hoping no one would notice. Fat chance, but it was worth a shot. "Come out," Kabuto continued. The door slowly opened, and Jiroubou slunk out, looking ashamed. Kabuto placed his other hand on his hip, glaring at Jiroubou. "Sakon? Ukon, you too. Out here, now." The pair of Sound ninja slowly emerged from behind the door, looking slightly chagrined and slightly smug. One of Kabuto's eyebrows rose, and he called out, "Kidomaru?" There was a rough swear, but the spider-ninja came out to stand next to his fellow ninja. Muttering was heard from behind the door:

"Don't say Tayuya, don't say Tayuya, don't say Tayuya…"

Kabuto smirked, and said it anyway: "Tayuya?"

Horrible swearing was heard from behind the door, and Tayuya came out, looking morbidly furious. She stomped over to her teammates, a dark thundercloud looming over her head. Kabuto glanced at them, then at Orochimaru. "You taking this, or am I?" he asked softly, leaning closer to Orochimaru. The snake shook his head.

"I'll take it," he replied, just as softly. Kabuto placed a soft, sweet kiss on Orochimaru's lips, forbidden to touch, but his to claim. He nodded and walked away, excusing himself to his lab. Orochimaru sighed, crossed his arms, and walked over to the Sound Four.

"Look," he said slowly, voice low and threatening. "You can't tell anyone what you just saw. If it gets around the complex, it'll get outside the complex, and then, it'll spread across the villages. And if Itachi gets wind of it, I am so frickin' dead it's not even funny. Do you have any idea what that insane lunatic would do to me if he thought I was cheating on him?"

Tayuya glanced at Sakon and Ukon; Jiroubou and Kidomaru exchanged concerned glances. "Can we still guess even though we already know?"

Orochimaru dealt Sakon, the speaker, a vicious backhand. "Worse!" he exclaimed, "so don't make it worse! This little event is to stay in this room, and never leave it under any circumstances. Am I clear?!"

Three frightened nods ensued, and one croak of affirmation from the floor. Orochimaru nodded once, and added, "I'll tell Kenshin when I'm ready to. So don't go and tell him!"

"Tell me what?"

Kenshin stood in the doorway, almost filling the frame with his bulky figure. He walked over to Orochimaru, looking intently at the sannin. "This isn't about your little romance issue, is it?" the old man grunted, setting his hands on his hips. "Orochimaru, just leave Itachi to us. Go get laid."

Orochimaru felt his face flush to an almost normal tone. "Why you-you-you disgusting old man! What-what gives you the right to…to say something like that?! You have no right to-"

Kenshin waved a hand at Orochimaru. "Get a grip," he advised dryly. "And then see what Kabuto's doing tonight."

"Why you little-!"

"Orochimaru-sama, he's old and senile! He's not worth it! _He's not worth it!!"_

Tayuya, Jiroubou, Sakon, Ukon, and Kidomaru each did their part to try to hold Orochimaru back. Tayuya grabbed his wrist; Jiroubou wrapped his arms around Orochimaru's shoulders; Sakon and Ukon used all four of their hands to hold Orochimaru's other wrist; Kidomaru began spitting up spider webs. And even then, it was hardly enough. Even so, Kenshin simply stood there, smirking, hands in his pockets. "Orochimaru, all the fun is in watching you fly off the handle," he offered, and then turned and simply walked away. The Sounds were doing their best to convince Orochimaru that murder wasn't the way to do it-this time, anyway. But the snake refused to listen, and continued to fight the Sounds holding him back. By the time Kenshin had shut the door behind himself, Orochimaru had almost entirely fought off his guards, who were now fulfilling the role of Kenshin's life-savers. Not that he would be grateful-but no one wanted to see the old man vanish so soon. Orochimaru seemed to grow a bit calmer after Kenshin had left, but he was still breathing murderous thoughts. Tayuya nodded to the others, and everyone slowly stepped away from Orochimaru, watching intently to see if he bolted for the door.

He walked into his room, slamming the door along the way.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru cut through his bedroom to the bathroom attached to it, shutting and locking the door. He turned his back to the vanity against the wall, and then slid down it onto his haunches. He settled in a cross-legged position on the floor, head leaning back against the cabinets under the sink, eyes closed. Orochimaru had to search to find even the question he was asking himself: _what the hell am I doing?_

"Orochimaru-sama?"

The slightly-timid voice of one of Orochimaru's servants came through the door, accompanied by a gentle knock. Orochimaru sighed with annoyance, but answered: "What is it now?" he snapped, too tired to even think about being semi-respectful to anyone.

"Someone at the gate wants to see you."

"Who is it?" Orochimaru pressed. Unless it was someone very, very important, he wasn't going to greet anyone personally for a very long time.

"He refuses to say. But he's from Akatsuki-"

"Oh, my God, I can't deal with this right now."

The man outside the door seemed confused, but decided to try, anyway. "Should I tell him to wait?" the man inquired. Orochimaru exhaled slowly.

"Describe him," he said tiredly. He began rubbing his forehead, trying to put some pressure on his sinuses. He really needed an Aspirin…

"He has spiky orange hair," the man began hesitantly, "And his eyes are like gray rings. He has many piercings in his face, and he wears an Akatsuki cloak."  
Orochimaru's heart stopped. "Pein," he whispered. His former boss-! From way back when, when he was in Akatsuki. "Fine, tell him I'll be there as soon as I can," Orochimaru said, fighting to a standing position. He filled a small cup with water, and then pulled open the mirror over the sink to reveal a medicine cabinet. Orochimaru found the bottle of painkiller, shook out two pills, and put the bottle back in the cabinet. He closed the mirror, and then dumped the pills down the back of his throat. Orochimaru gulped down the water, set the glass down next to the sink, and stepped out of the bathroom. The servant who had come to him had already left, and so Orochimaru walked further into his room, searching for the bag of incense he kept in his room. He found it on top of his dresser, and pulled out two sticks of incense. They were scented like rose-Pein's favorite scent. Orochimaru lit the sticks of incense with a snap of his fingers and a small fire jutsu, then set them in the shallow bowl just above his head. He then folded his hands, lowered his head, and offered up a silent prayer for God-whatever God was up there and cared about him. Orochimaru had never really been sure about religion-he considered himself an atheist. But now, he wasn't so sure. Just he himself, and him wasn't getting him far.

Orochimaru took a deep breath, finished up his prayer, and went outside to meet Pein.

**A/N: Whoo. End. Review, or no next chapter!! Song is Two Stars by Meaghan Jette Martin.**


	7. Chapter 7

Pein had argued and fought with the guards for close to fifteen minutes now, but they were still denying him entrance into Oto. He couldn't attack; they had a barrier up. Not even mental jutsu could get through. Pein had tried, and failed, to get through, and had even threatened Orochimaru's life. No one had really bought it, though: as long as the barrier remained up, Pein would remain out. The guards had, however, sent for Orochimaru, but they warned Pein he was quite temperamental, and the man they sent in to notify him of Pein may not even come back. Orochimaru was just _like that. _He was also quite unpredictable, and it was rumored that the only person who could truly read him was Kabuto.

A rippled murmur went through the crowds. Orochimaru was coming! And he hadn't killed the ninja sent to get him! Pein straightened a bit, rising to his full height and hoping it was enough to be taller than Orochimaru by even the smallest amount. He hated trying to intimidate people, but actually winding up being shorter than them. It was quite obnoxious. Pein crossed his arms over his chest, using the Akatsuki cloak to hide the lower half of his face. He focused his eyes into a deadly glare, and turned down the corners of his pierced lips in a nasty scowl. The crowds in front of him began to split; he could see also the ripple of people bowing to their Kage as he slowly paced through the crowds, making his way towards Pein. The leader of the Akatsuki glared straight at the split in the crowds-any second now…

The last of the crowds parted, sweeping to the sides like the Red Sea for Moses. Orochimaru marched straight down the center, and, as he passed, people bowed low in respect. As Orochimaru passed, the people began to stand up again, crowding closer to Orochimaru to see and hear everything that was going on. Orochimaru walked with the poise and grace of a panther, and the arrogance of the kings of ancient times. He acted as if he was walking out to eat dinner, not at all like he might be approaching his doom.

Orochimaru stopped at the guarded gate.

"Pein," he said slowly, as if the very name disgusted him, "What are you here for?"

Pein's eyes narrowed. "Your insolence, Orochimaru, will someday bring you to your knees," he growled, dodging the question for a moment. "But, on the matter of your insolence, Itachi has spoken with me about. Apparently, you are refusing him something you owe him…?"

Orochimaru gave a disparaging snort. "Your lapdog seeks my dignity, my pride, and my virginity," Orochimaru spat, "none of which I intend to give him."

Pein bristled at the words, but said nothing. While Orochimaru's barbs were sharp enough to stick beneath his skin and provoke him, he had better self-control than that. Besides, the pen was mightier than the sword. "Something else," Pein replied, "Beyond your side affairs."

"Speaking of affairs-"

"Shut up, Kenshin," Orochimaru snapped, slightly in a hushed whisper. He returned his attention to Pein, hoping and praying, for Kenshin's sake, that the old man knew when a good opportunity to keep his mouth shut was. "Now, I would certainly appreciate you keeping Itachi out of my hair-and my genitals, for that matter. If that can be accomplished, which I doubt, I might be willing to make a deal with you regarding your concerns about my past in Akatsuki."

Pein gave Orochimaru the slightest of smirks. "Well, I can't hold Itachi's leash," he replied, "But I'll see if I can convince him to keep out of your private affairs-if there is someone else."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, but he still held himself in check. "That's none of your business. What is your business is the way your little pet made of fire sees it fit to strip me of dignity, self esteem, and all traces of confidence. Honestly, I'm afraid to go to sleep at night. Now, if you can keep him away from me, I might even return that ring you so desire. Does that appeal to you at all?"

Pein had to smile at this. So, Itachi had been getting nasty with Orochimaru, eh? And from the sound of it, rape. Pein could almost be proud of the teen. "I suppose we could work something out," Pein finally said. "But, we can't exactly do that with a fire shield in the way, now can we?"

Orochimaru glared. "I don't trust you," he said flatly. Pein spread his arms in a _well, what do you want me to do about that? _gesture.

"Well, what would appease your mind?" he asked. "I can offer you a blood contract, but I don't see how that could possible make a difference, seeing as it can't get through the shield-!"

"Okay," Orochimaru said with a sigh. "Leave the cloak and all your weapons out there. We can drain your chakra if we can find Jiroubou."

"He's somewhere around here," Tayuya muttered. The hot-headed red-head had been at the gate when Pein approached, and she was holding one corner of the barrier. "Little shit probably went to raid the fridge, the fatass-"

"Tayuya, language," Orochimaru scolded. "One of you get him. In the meantime…" Orochimaru turned back to Pein, motioning towards the ground with one finger. Pein sighed dramatically and the cloak swished to the ground, revealing what seemed to be hundreds of hidden weapons. There was a murmur of surprise through the crowds, but Orochimaru tried to keep his expression passive, but firm. "Mm-hm," he continued, still motioning towards the ground. The pouches that held weapons fell to the ground next to Pein's cloak, followed by several holsters. "Mm-hm," Orochimaru repeated, and more weapons fell to the ground from hidden locations: behind Pein's neck, on the insides of his ankles, on his hips…Orochimaru could hardly keep track. Pein seemed to hesitate, though, at the food pills. Another "Mm-hm," from Orochimaru prompted the plastic containers to the ground, and Pein finally stood, stripped of weapons and cloak alike, in a half fishnet shirt and dark shinobi pants, in full view of the entire village.

"Happy?"

"Very," Orochimaru said dryly. He still kept his voice flat, his posture relaxed, and his expression passive and slightly bored. "Now, if Jiroubou gets here in reasonable time, we can see about your chakra-"

"Here!"

A panting Jiroubou ran up to Orochimaru, bending over and bracing his hands on his knees. Orochimaru could catch nasty mutterings under the Sound ninja's breath, but decided to ignore them. Jiroubou wasn't exactly in top shape…

"Alright, Jiroubou, just drain his chakra?"

Jiroubou nodded, straightening and giving his Kage a proper bow. He placed one knee on the ground, slamming both fists into the ground. The ground seemed to shake and rumble and a circle of earth seemed to rise up around Pein, as if an animal tunneling underground had raised it up. Orochimaru watched as the circle began to expand upwards, and then form a dome over Pein. Jiroubou began pulling out Pein's chakra through the ground itself, allowing some of it to evaporate into the air. Orochimaru was impressed: Pein contained an inhuman amount of chakra if Jiroubou was allowing even the smallest bit to evaporate. Either that, or he was doing this very quickly.

"Damn, he's got so much chakra," Jiroubou swore, confirming Orochimaru's suspicions. "I can't possible contain all of this. I gotta let some more go."

Orochimaru could hardly believe it; he had never seen any amount of chakra Jiroubou couldn't absorb. But, apparently, it was happening. Jiroubou then stood up, dusting off his hands. Orochimaru was confused; didn't Jiroubou say that Pein had so much chakra that he had to let some go…? Then Orochimaru saw the chakra glowing around Jiroubou's feet. He had kept the connection, but made himself a bit more comfortable. He glanced at Orochimaru, offering, "This might take a while."

Orochimaru gave off a slightly amused snort. "Anything you can do to speed this up?"

Jiroubou gave an ambiguous, one-shouldered shrug. "Kinda-sorta," he offered. "I can make it go faster, but I have to sacrifice a lot of the chakra I normally would have absorbed."

Orochimaru waved him off. "Do it," he said. Jiroubou shrugged again, and more chakra began pouring off into the air.

"This'll also make him substantially weaker, which you will appreciate, and he won't," Jiroubou said wryly. "The faster it goes, the weaker the victim will be when I'm finished with him. As long as he doesn't try to resist, this should go very smoothly."

Orochimaru nodded once, and Jiroubou turned his attention completely away from his master. Jiroubou might be an excellent ninja, but his intellectual capacity was very small. He couldn't concentrate on many things at once, especially when some of the things he was focusing on were difficult-such as draining chakra. Orochimaru waited, trying to be patient. He knew that Pein had an immense amount of chakra, and that Jiroubou was doing everything he could. Even so, time ticked by: fifteen minutes, twenty minutes…

"Done."

Jiroubou stood up straight, heaving a sigh of relief from deep within his chest. The dirt around Pein began to crumble, and dropped to the ground in huge chunks. Pein shook himself a bit, brushing dirt off his shoulders and stomach. He ran a hand through his hair, shook his head, and then approached the gate. The barrier shimmered, and then reluctantly fell. Pein breezed right through, and Orochimaru stepped up to meet him. His heart was racing: he still felt like Pein could kill him in a flash. He knew the ninja was dangerous, but he was without weapons and chakra. He still had his own weapons and chakra…he could at least protect himself. Orochimaru stopped a few feet from Pein, but the Ame-nin didn't stop. He walked right past Orochimaru, grabbing the snake's wrist as he walked past. Orochimaru hesitated, sudden fear lancing its way through his heart. A sharp breath, however, was all he needed to recover. Orochimaru wrenched his wrist out of Pein's grip, dealing him a vicious slap across the face. Pein seemed shocked; surprise was clearly written across his features. Then, the shock was replaced with anger, and Pein lashed out at Orochimaru. A fist was rapidly buried in Orochimaru's stomach, and Orochimaru doubled over in pain. His hands went to his stomach, clutching at what he knew was a broken rib. He took a staggering step back, and Pein's face frosted over to a cold glare. "Don't you dare disrespect your superiors," he said, turning and walking away from Orochimaru, without a second thought.

"You are, by no means, my superior."

Pein paused, turning back to Orochimaru with a slightly bored expression on his face. "You have no idea," he said coolly, "Just what you're getting yourself into. Just come quietly, and we won't have a problem."

"So your goal," Orochimaru grunted, trying to straighten himself out, "Is to simply bully me into everything you want?"

Pein shrugged ambiguously. "Well, since you seem to have it all figured out…"

Orochimaru's right hand, which was still braced around his middle, glowed with green chakra. He straightened out fully, healing the broken rib Pein had caused him. He could sense his ninja milling around, driving themselves to the front of the crowds to defend their lord if need be. Orochimaru healed the rib completely, well aware of the fact that healing himself cost him quite a bit of chakra. He didn't care. "You seem to be under the impression," he began slowly, "that I'm just going to let you do to me whatever you please. I have news for you: it's daytime. Fear has no power over me. Don't you dare think that you can just…manipulate me, abuse me, take over me…that easily. I'm not going to let you."

Pein seemed to be letting Orochimaru's words sink in. He had an unreadable expression on his face, and seemed to be thinking hard. Finally, he just looked at Orochimaru and said:

"Then you are, indeed, a very foolish man."

A huge wave of chakra suddenly rose up from Pein, and he moved at the speed of the Fourth Hokage. Orochimaru felt shock register in his system, and Pein's body was suddenly pressed to his back. How had he kept such an amount of chakra?! A little bit, possible. But not this much! Orochimaru moved a kunai down into his hand, stabbing backwards with the blade reversed along his arm. Pein easily caught the blow, pulling Orochimaru's arm up and digging his elbow into Orochimaru's back, right between his shoulder blades. Orochimaru found himself forced to his knees, with one arm suddenly twisted up behind his back. Orochimaru ignored the pain; he tipped down his free side, using his free hand to brace his body against the ground. Orochimaru kicked up with both feet, but ultimately failed in his attempt to force Pein away. He grazed the shoulder of the Ame-nin, but had no more luck in landing his blow. He wasn't happy about that: if that blow had landed, it would have easily broken Pein's collarbone. Orochimaru tried again, but this time, Pein caught his ankle and shoved him off balance. Orochimaru fell back, landing on his back with his legs off to the side. One arm was still in Pein's grip; the other, Orochimaru was using to keep his balance. Pein's movement was too fast, even without chakra: Orochimaru couldn't keep up with the rapid attacks. The most he could do was defend himself, and try to get out of the situation.

As Orochimaru struggled with Pein, he could see more and more ninja approaching the scene, trying to find a place to attack without harming Orochimaru. "Stay back!" he cried. "Don't get involved! This is my fight; if I didn't want to fight, would not I have asked you to intervene?!"

The ninja around looked astonished, but stayed where they were. Among them, though, was Kabuto. The genin found it almost physical pain to watch the fight, in which his master was clearly beaten already. Kabuto could feel a lump forming in his throat, and willed himself to remain calm, impassive, and uninterested in appearance. He couldn't afford to show Pein that he was the most affected of all the ninja; Pein would know that he was Orochimaru's prime concern and his most avid protector. Orochimaru would also be quite angry with him if he went against his orders and broke into the fight, but Kabuto was having trouble simply standing by. He knew he couldn't even turn away: then, everyone and their mother would know just how much it killed him to watch Orochimaru be pushed around.

"What do you want?!"

Orochimaru seemed to have found a hidden reserve of spirit: he sat up, using Pein's grip on his arm as a crutch to haul himself up. He fisted his other hand in Pein's shirt, holding himself up as he forced his feet underneath him and rose to a standing position. Although slightly shorter than Pein, Orochimaru still held a commanding presence as he stood up for himself against the leader of the entire infamous Akatsuki.

"Why are you even here, harassing me? Why are you so hell bent on hurting me? Sending Itachi here and having him…_defile_ me with his filthy touch…! And then you _dare-_you dare-!! How you can even show your face here is a wonder in and of itself, but to go so far as to attack me for standing up for myself-? Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you found yourself dying of snake poison, my friend."

Pein allowed a filthy, cocky smirk to grow over his face. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, looking high-and-mighty as he towered over Orochimaru-by two inches. "You can't expect me to submit myself to your pathetic attempts at overpowering me, can you? It's ridiculous, if you expect me to fall for your disgusting attempts at-"

Orochimaru leaned forward, and sank his slavering fangs into Pein's neck.

Orochimaru had been stalling the entire time, using the opportunity to engage a fist fight with Pein to get into close proximity with him. He had then stalled long enough to secrete enough poison to ensure that some got into Pein. And then, he had used the poison only when he needed a shock factor that would throw Pein off balance. Kabuto was impressed. Orochimaru had put his life and reputation on the line to get Pein out of the village.

"You can't be serious," Pein scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm. Your poison is useless against me-I am a god!"

"In your own right," Orochimaru said coolly, separating himself from Pein's throat, "but you have no idea of my capacity, while you clearly overestimated your own. And just for the record-" Orochimaru flipped his hand over in Pein's grip, making sure that Pein had a firm enough grip on Orochimaru's wrist to ensure that his hand would travel with Orochimaru's. He used the twist to wrap his hand over Pein's, take the Akatsuki's wrist in his own grip, and force it around in a circle. Orochimaru slid his hand up a bit further, applying pressure to a pressure point in Pein's arm and forcing him to relent slightly his forward motions. Pein felt his knees trying to buckle, but refused to crumble under Orochimaru's attack. Orochimaru gave Pein a hard shove in the chest, forcing the missing-nin off balance and then rapidly snapping up his knee and catching Pein in the stomach.

"You suck at taijutsu."

**A/N: Whee. Sorry for the late update, but I went to Otakon! : ) Happy woman. Now, review, por favor. It makes me happy.**


	8. Chapter 8

Orochimaru took a deep breath. He had the power position; he had proved his point. Pein should be listening to him at this point. Orochimaru leaned down, over Pein's slightly-twisted body, and asked, "Are you ready to try this again?"

Pein's only response was a growl of frustration. Orochimaru straightened, stepping back, and allowed him room to stand. "Nice of you to help me up," Pein commented dryly, brushing himself off. "And just for the record? The only reason you knocked me down was because I wasn't expecting such a bold move from such a weakling like you. I wasn't quite prepared to deal with a half-hearted kick from you."

"Are you ready now?" Orochimaru asked the question as if he was speaking to a troubled child.

"Pfft, yes," Pein replied flippantly. He crossed his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes, as if to prove a point.

Orochimaru moved like lightning; within the same breath, he was on top of Pein, wrestling the man to the ground and pinning his wrists next to his head. Pein looked up at Orochimaru, shock and shame both clearly written into his features. "Can we not tell anyone about his?" he muttered, glancing hurriedly back and forth, as if to check and see who was watching. Orochimaru offered a slight smirk, and then stood up.

"Only if don't pull something stupid like that again."

Pein sighed and stood up, brushing himself off again and glaring at Orochimaru. But, Orochimaru still caught the muttered words of consent under his breath: "Fine." The snake-man's smirk only grew wider, and he motioned Pein after him as he turned his back and walked away. Pein walked a bit more quickly to catch up, and then fell into step next to Orochimaru. Orochimaru took a quick glance sideways, as if to make sure that it was Pein walking next to him. Then, he returned to looking straight ahead, as if nothing was wrong. Pein couldn't help but stare: now he could see why Itachi wanted Orochimaru so badly. The snake's motion was as smooth as liquid copper; his grace and poise was that of a proud lion. He had hair that was as dark as the night itself that seemed to flow in an endless satin curtain over his shoulders. Although Orochimaru's body was obscured by the bulk of the Sound uniform, Pein knew from when Orochimaru walked around without his cloak in Akatsuki that he had quite the body. A half-fishnet shirt and shinobi pants really showed off one's body, for some strange reason...given that both items of clothing were all that Orochimaru ever wore, and both were extremely tight. Pein knew that, just from looking at Orochimaru now, that he was still the same. The rope belt around his waist was pulled tight enough for Pein to see Orochimaru's general figure; the pants, although loose, gave a hint that Orochimaru didn't even come close to filling them at all. So, he was still as slender and lithe as he had been back then…been keeping up his selection of bodies to the most perfect. And then maintaining those bodies? Orochimaru must look simply gorgeous under all that clothing…Pein could see him now: flat, toned stomach, slender, pale legs, dark hair tumbling over slim shoulders-Orochimaru must be _stunning. _Especially if Itachi was so interested in him…Pein might just have to ask Itachi for a slice of the prize. He could easily overpower Orochimaru-letting the snake have the smallest taste of self-confidence could prove so much fun to snatch back later on.

"Here, please."

Orochimaru stepped aside, holding open a door for Pein. The Akatsuki slipped through it, and Orochimaru followed Pein in. As the door swung closed, however, a purple-gloved hand caught it, opened it a bit more, and then its owner slid through. Kabuto…Pein sighed with annoyance. So, Orochimaru's favorite servant was here to put up a small token of resistance if Pein tried anything. Or maybe, he was just curious, and Orochimaru wasn't going to stop him. Either way, it would be child's play for Pein to deal with him.

"Kabuto, you don't have to be here."

Orochimaru was speaking to the little kid. Well, maybe not so little: he looked like he could be anywhere from sixteen two twenty-six. He was one of those people where it was impossible to now anything about them just by looking at them. Pein made himself busy by getting himself familiar with the room, while also listening to the two next to the door.

"Orochimaru-sama, I'd be much more comfortable if I were here," Kabuto insisted. "For safety reasons, and also, I would like to aid you in any way I can."

"I'm fine here, Kabuto," Orochimaru replied. One hand came up to rest on kabuto's shoulders; Orochimaru's eyes dropped to his hand, slid up with it, and then continued up to meet Kabuto's eyes. "Really. It's okay."

Kabuto exhaled slowly, only through his nostrils. His head turned away from Orochimaru's, and he seemed to be avoiding eye contact. His hand slowly came up to cover Orochimaru's, and Kabuto looked back at Orochimaru. "I'm staying," he said softly, wrapping his other arm around Orochimaru's waist. "And that's final."

Orochimaru sighed, resting his head on Kabuto's chest. "Fine," he finally consented, "But you're not putting much into this discussion, understood?"

Kabuto smirked and placed a small, swift kiss on Orochimaru's lips. His mouth and Orochimaru's barely made contact, but it was still as addicting as Kabuto's deeper, more sexual kisses. Orochimaru knew better than to ask for more; in front of Pein, it was not wise. Orochimaru instead stepped back, carefully separating himself from Kabuto and turning to face Pein. "He's staying," he said firmly, walking over to Pein.

The missing-nin seemed slightly amused by the prospect, but said nothing in regards to the matter. Instead, he sat down in one of the dozens of chairs lining a long, rectangular table in the room, the only furnishing in the room other than a few light fixtures. Orochimaru sat down at the head; Pein chose the seat to his left, and Kabuto sat down on Orochimaru's right. Pein was also amused by this; that the boy would go so far as to show his position over Pein by the seating arrangement! Orochimaru turned right to Pein, and immediately asked: "Now, what are you here for?"'

Pein glared at Orochimaru, as if to say, "Is that even a question?" But, he seemed to decide it was better to keep his mouth shut and his comments to himself, and instead settled for a sarcastic, but honest approach. "I came to discuss the complaints Itachi had been giving me."

Orochimaru sighed. "I told you, I have nothing that Itachi could ever have possessed. Now, if that's all you have to offer by way of explanation, please, leave."  
Now, Pein's glare was scathing. "Orochimaru, I didn't finish. I have a reason of my own that I came here for. And I would appreciate it if you would cooperate with me."

Orochimaru shifted a small bit in his seat, and he found that his hands were itching to fall into his lap. It would look submissive, and much less threatening. Orochimaru suddenly felt paranoid about pissing off Pein-his venom had done absolutely nothing, it seemed, to the missing-nin. He couldn't fathom what had gone wrong, or what Pein had done. He ought to be writhing on the floor in agonizing pain right about now! Orochimaru sat quietly, waiting him out. He didn't want to hear the next statement, but at the same time, he was dreadfully curious as to Pein's demands.

"I want you to come back to Akatsuki."

Kabuto, who had been silent the entire time, abruptly fell into a coughing fit. Orochimaru turned around, concerned. Kabuto was bent over in half, one hand over his mouth, the other on the back of Orochimaru's chair, trying to hold himself up. Orochimaru sat for a moment while Kabuto recovered, looking mildly confused.

"Choked on my own spit," Kabuto muttered. "That's a shocker, right there. Anyway, I'm waiting for Orochimaru-sama's reaction before I kill you."

Pein smirked and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands and bracing them on his crossed legs. "Well, go on, Orochimaru," he said smoothly. "I'm waiting."

"Is that even a question?!" Orochimaru cried. "Can you be serious?! You are asking me to abandon my village, move in with a physcopath who rapes me whenever he damn well feels like it, and work to further someone else's goals without any frickin' regard to my own. Just who do you think you are?!"

"Someone you fear."

Pein didn't seem to move; he was at Orochimaru's throat like an angry dog. One hand wrapped around the snake's neck, and Orochimaru found himself slammed into a wall-across the room. As he tried to recover and fight back, Pein was on him again, lifting him high into the air by the neck once more. Orochimaru felt the air being choked from his lungs, and reached up to try to pull Pein off of him. But, it was in vain. Pein's fingers only tightened around Orochimaru's throat, and Orochimaru began clawing at Pein's arms, searching for something-anything-that would make Pein let him go. Kabuto started forward, kunai in one hand and chakra scalpel in the other. "Let him go!" he screamed, charging Pein rather recklessly. His only thought at the moment was to save Orochimaru. Pein closed his eyes, turning his head away from Kabuto and staring absently up at Orochimaru. "That little act outside was nothing more than a show, you know: something to convince your little lackies that you would be alright with me alone. I really wanted you alone, but this silver-haired brat is a sharp one. Feh...like it matters. I'll kill the brat, and you can watch! But then, where's the fn? You both are so pathetic," he proclaimed, and his hand suddenly opened. Orochimaru fell to the floor, coughing and heaving in gulps of air. Orochimaru knelt in front of Pein, one hand at his neck, trying to sooth the throbbing pain. Kabuto shoved his kunai back into its respectful pouch behind his hip, dispelling his chakra scalpel for the moment. "Orochimaru-sama!" he whispered, dropping to one knee next to his master and putting one hand on Orochimaru's back. His hand took on a new glow; this time, one of green, healing chakra. Orochimaru's coughing eased, and Kabuto set his other hand on Orochimaru's forearm. He glanced up long enough to glare at Pein, and then helped Orochimaru to his feet. "How dare you," Kabuto growled. "You walk in here, acting like you're that much better than everyone else, and then go and attack Orochimaru for no reason?! Who exactly do you think you are?!"

"Kabuto, stop," Orochimaru pleaded, "Don't make him any angrier than he already is-!"

"Orochimaru-sama-"

"No!" Orochimaru insisted. "Just…just stop, okay? Leave it."

Kabuto exhaled slowly, bowing his head in thought. He was torn between two decisions: the one that kept Pein happy, and the one that told Pein to buzz off. Finally, he reached a settlement: Orochimaru was his top priority, and he needed to keep him safe at all costs. "I understand," he finally said. "But don't think that I'm happy about it!"

Orochimaru nodded, and found his way to his seat again. "Pein, I don't care what you do to me, but I'm not going to comply with your wishes," Orochimaru said softly, keeping his eyes on the missing-nin as he, too, took his seat once more. "I simply can't go against everything I believe in; everything I stand for…" Orochimaru shook his head. "Not exactly my cup of tea, hanging out with Itachi, either."

Pein's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't planning on taking you by force," he mused, "but I guess I have to."

Kabuto shifted uneasily from his position behind Orochimaru. He wasn't sure what Pein's next move would be-a snake struck either blindingly fast or sinuously slow. Which would Pein choose? He didn't want him to move quickly, but slowly would probably mean that Pein had the time to do so, and then, circumstances were bad. Or, he was about to move quickly. It was ridiculous, this game Pein played. Kabuto couldn't stand it. He moved out from behind Orochimaru's chair to stand next to him, and one hand subconsciously sought out Orochimaru's. Orochimaru allowed him to take his hand, but did not make any move to accept it, or move back. Pein saw this, and suddenly knew how to make Orochimaru comply with him.

But he wasn't going to use it. It was too much fun forcing Orochimaru into whatever he wanted.

Pein stood up again, and Orochimaru jumped to his feet, obviously not trusting the missing-nin as far as he could throw him. His hand suddenly tightened around Kabuto's; he didn't want anything to happen to his new-found lover! Kabuto sensed this, but, unfortunately, so did Pein. The Ame-nin smirked, and continued his slow, agonizing circle around the two Sound ninja. Orochimaru stepped back, around the chair he had been sitting in up until now to stand closer to Kabuto.

"Pathetic."

With that single last word, Pein sprang forward, armed with a kunai and nothing more. He hurled the kunai at Kabuto, whose hand broke with Orochimaru's as he blocked the throw. Kabuto stepped forward, but it was too late. Pein's arm was already around Orochimaru's waist, and he threw him down with ease and strength. A firm kick sent Orochimaru flying, and Kabuto simply couldn't keep up. He tried, but Orochimaru hit the wall-

And then Pein did, as well.

A huge, gaping hole opened up in the middle of the wall, giving Pein an escape route. Kabuto leapt for the opening, chakra flying into his hands to form a deadly blue blade. But it was too late. Pein had already gotten to Orochimaru, and Kabuto was only halfway across the large room. Pein reached down, grabbed Orochimaru, and kept on pushing forward as he always had. Orochimaru's wrist was caught in Pein's grip; he threw all of his weight against Pein, balking like a spooking horse. Pein let out a growl of annoyance, and pulled harder on Orochimaru's arm. He moved his other hand up to a more stable position; he set his hand on Orochimaru's forearm, pulling even harder. Orochimaru stumbled under the nearly doubled force, and that was all Pein needed. He yanked Orochimaru forward, through the hole in the wall, and shoved the sannin ahead of him. Orochimaru fell to his knees, completely disoriented and off balance by now. Pein reached up, punching the wall above him as hard as he could. The rest of it came down, raining debris and dust on Kabuto's silver hair. Kabuto leapt back, trying to avoid the spray, and nearly got hit in the head with a huge chunk of concrete. A few coughs and desperate panting later, and the dust was just about cleared. Kabuto craned his neck, trying to see over the now-rather large pile of debris in the room.

Pein was gone. And with him, Orochimaru.

**A/N: Whee. Chapter. Review, please?**


	9. Chapter 9

Orochimaru had fought as long as he could: Pein was simply that much stronger. The orange-haired man who now held Orochimaru in his grasp, dragging him along to some sick destination, seemed to be acting rather smug. He had beaten Orochimaru once they made it outside the village, subduing the snake rather quickly with an impressive show of strength. Orochimaru had then resorting to screaming, trying to get someone's-anyone's-attention, but to no avail. Pein had purposely dragged him far away from anyone who might hear Orochimaru, and then taught him his lesson. Orochimaru was now unconscious, slung over Pein's shoulder and carried where he didn't want to go. He had fought the entire fight-but he had lost.

Pein arrived in the Akatsuki's base in something resembling an hour-for any ordinary ninja, it would be a day's haul all the way out to Akatsuki, but Pein's power allowed him to travel longer distances faster. Konan barely glanced up as Pein entered the hideout; Pein vaguely remembered putting her on guard duty when he left. "You're back," she said flatly. "And I see you're about to make one hormonal teenager very happy…"

Pein allowed himself a snicker of laughter at this. "He's not touching this beauty until I get to see exactly what I've been missing out on," Pein growled. "And then, maybe, if I get bored with him, Itachi can have him."

"Or if Oto doesn't get him back first," Konan said, still in a flat, bored, dry tone. "You better watch 'em, Pein. They can get pretty hardcore when they wanna be."

Pein shrugged. "I won't have any trouble," he said, nonchalantly. "All I need to do is whip out a knife, grab him by the hair, and say, 'nobody move.' Cakewalk, if you wish."

Konan shrugged, propping her head up on her hands. "Whatever," she replied monotonously. "You have fun with that. Should I let Itachi say hello before you screw this one over?"

Pein shook his head. "No, I'll give him to Itachi as a present, I suppose. At a later date…when Orochimaru knows his place better, shall we say."

Konan shrugged as well as she could when most of twenty pounds was in her hands. "Whatever. See ya. Just don't ask me to watch you rape the poor thing."

Pein snickered again. "I'm not sharing," he said, voice low with warning. "Don't even ask."

Konan gave Pein a look that clearly said, "You are a dumbass," but kept her mouth shut. She returned her eyes to the rock straight ahead, and Pein swept Orochimaru away, down the stairs and into the underground level of Akatsuki. Here, he moved down the long corridor, all the way to the end, and opened the door to his suite.

"You, my darling, are in for some surprises."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru woke up unable to move.

He could feel ropes cutting into his wrists and ankles, and leather being strained against his neck. Orochimaru's eyes squeezed shut with pain: he flinched with the pain, trying to hold down his sudden urge to whimper in pain and fear. The last thing he remembered was Kabuto's desperate attempts to take him back…and then Pein dragging him off, creating a barrier between them, and then…all he could remember was being unable to see anything, and Pein pulling him in some direction. Then, he remembered Pein beating him, coldly striking him left and right, saying something about how he had to learn his lesson…and then, nothing but blackness. Orochimaru shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. His vision was slowly returning-it was dark in the room where he was, but only halfway unlit. Orochimaru could see now that he was sitting upright, with his legs bent and off to the side. He had been stripped of his sound uniform, and now wore only a thin black kimono. His wrists were bound behind his back, and a collar was around his slender neck. His feet were loosely chained together so he could walk, but not run. The chains on his feet were connected to whatever he was tied to-he thought it was a bed-but Orochimaru knew it wasn't wise to move. Chakra restraints practically covered the restraints, but Orochimaru could still feel his chakra. He could feel it…but not touch it. Orochimaru knew not to even try. Orochimaru's head was back against whatever surface he was bound to, and now, he tried to move it. He now realized that the reason he couldn't move was because he was still partially asleep-maybe even in sleep paralysis. Orochimaru struggled a bit, trying to find a weak point in the bonds and exploit. No such luck. Pein must have been the one to bind him. Orochimaru couldn't help a whimper at this point-he was simply spent, and had no desire to even wake up again if he fell asleep. Kabuto…what was his lover doing right now? Probably looking for him. Orochimaru found himself fighting tears as the thought of his new-found lover came to mind-would he ever see him again?

"Awake, are you?"

Orochimaru started at the voice from behind him. He could hear a slight shifting of weight, a bit of creaking from the bed behind him, and then the sound of two feet hitting the ground. Someone was walking towards him, and, as Orochimaru turned his had to look, he saw who it was.

Pein.

Orochimaru's heart leapt to his throat; his breathing stopped for a moment. His entire body broke out in a cold sweat, and Orochimaru suddenly began to shiver. He drew himself into as much of a ball as possible, trying everything in his power to protect himself from Pein. His efforts, however, only seemed to amuse the leader of the Akatsuki, and Orochimaru tried his best to skitter away from the man before him. But, it was all in vain. Pein had secured Orochimaru with a very short leash, leaving him mere inches to move. The simple lack of fairness in it all simply stunned Orochimaru.

"Darling, you didn't think I would let you simply wake up and be able to run wherever you wished, now, did you?" Pein mocked, crouching down in front of Orochimaru. "Itachi's been missing you, and he's been feeling quite hurt by your blatant rejection of him. I figured I would allow him a treat, and allow him to see you."

"Don't!" Orochimaru cried. "You know what he does to me, how could you even let him near me?!"

Pein shrugged. "He's been asking for you ever since he knew where I was going. Am I really going to deny my best ninja such a simple request? He loves you, Orochimaru. It's rather rude of you to so soundly reject him so often…"

Orochimaru turned his head away, trying not to look Pein in the eyes. "I'm not even going to go down that road," he whispered. "Just…just don't let him do anything to me, please…I don't think I can survive much longer if the two of you keep this up."

Pein snickered with laughter, standing up in front of Orochimaru and taking a step back. "Dearest, you can't expect me to restrain him for very long, can you? Honestly! With Itachi's desires, I can't even hope to hold him back. I don't want to, either. He's rather vicious when he's competing for you, you know."

Orochimaru sighed with the defeat and let his head hang. "Very well, then," he said softly. "I'll talk to him…and I'll see if I can get through to him."

Pein smirked. "Thank you," he said with a smirk. "Now, can I trust you if I let you go?"

"Ask yourself that question."

Pein's eyes narrowed in anger, but he held himself back for the moment. "You better watch your tongue," he warned, glaring at Orochimaru. He was standing in front of the door, one hand on the knob, half-turned to stare. "Otherwise, you are going to find yourself in a world of pain."

Orochimaru let go of a snicker. "I'm already there," he snarled. "After all, I'm here, aren't I?"

Pein ignored this comment, instead opening the door and taking a few steps outside. He let the door hang ajar, so Orochimaru could hear what he was saying: "Itachi, he's awake. Come and get him."

There was the sound of footsteps, and then the door opened a bit more. Dark hair, red eyes, and a small figure came into view, and Itachi stepped through the door. Orochimaru found himself shrinking back in fear-he feared Itachi more than anything in the world. A smirk broke out over Itachi's face when he saw Orochimaru, but it soon faded to a deep frown. He approached Orochimaru at a surprisingly rapid pace, and fell to his knees in front of his lover, still frowning. One hand came up-Orochimaru's eyes flashed closed in fear; Orochimaru had come to know the gesture as something so closely associated with pain that he now flinched every time someone raised a hand to him. But, surprisingly, Itachi's hand was gentle; it settled softly against the side of Orochimaru's face, and began running down the side of Orochimaru's face in an almost tender movement. Itachi slowly stroked the side of Orochimaru's face, running his cool hand over his lover's soft skin. Orochimaru shivered at Itachi's frigid touch; he was genuinely afraid of his so-called lover. "He's been cruel," he said coldly, trailing his hand down to tug at Orochimaru's collar. "You have bruises all over you."

Orochimaru said nothing. It was better to let Itachi go on, and only say something when absolutely necessary. Instead, his head lowered, and his gaze fell, trying to appear submissive. He didn't want to anger Itachi any further. "Did he beat you?" Orochimaru gave Itachi the smallest possible nod, shrinking back even farther. Itachi's other hand reached around behind Orochimaru to finger the ropes he was bound with. "You're bleeding." Orochimaru whimpered at Itachi's touch: the ropes stung, but so did Itachi's touch. It only made it worse to have him touch the open lacerations and abrasions. Itachi withdrew his hand, frown deepening. The hand that had been stroking Orochimaru's face fell to his ankles, curled up and almost under his body, hiding the chains that were tightly fastened around his ankles. Itachi tugged at them, and the chains abruptly fell open, freeing Orochimaru's legs, but revealing a bit of blood, smeared over his legs and feet from the heavy, abrasive chains. Itachi then reached up and began fiddling with the collar that Pein had put around Orochimaru's dainty neck, and the leather suddenly dropped to Itachi's hand. Orochimaru was, by now, thoroughly shocked: what was going on? He would have thought that Itachi would have enjoyed seeing him bound and restrained so, helpless under his hand. Another twist of Itachi's fingers freed Orochimaru's wrists from the painful grip of the ropes. Orochimaru's hands came around to rest in his lap; Orochimaru had hardly moved since Itachi had rid him of the bondage. Itachi pulled the ropes off his slender wrists and tossed them aside, leaving Orochimaru now confused as well as stunned. Itachi stood up again, and took a step back. Orochimaru immediately shifted to his knees, gasping with fear and retreating until his body was flattened against the bed behind him. Orochimaru turned away, unable to watch Itachi strike him. He was scared beyond all belief at this point-he couldn't even muster up the strength to plead with Itachi to leave him alone. All he managed was a small, broken sob, and he covered his face with his hands as Itachi's cold, cruel laugh filled his ears. He couldn't take it anymore! If Itachi was going to hit him, just hit him already!

But when Itachi's touch finally came, it was mercifully gentle, and seemed to actually calm Orochimaru instead of hurting him. Itachi almost tenderly picked Orochimaru up, cradling him in his arms like a bride. Orochimaru risked lowering his hands-dare he look into Itachi's dark, sinful eyes?

"Calm down," a soft, husky voice whispered. "I won't hurt you-so long as you behave yourself." A soft kiss found its way to Orochimaru's lips, leaving Orochimaru shocked enough to fall still in Itachi's grasp. Itachi smirked, turned and walked out the door, carrying Orochimaru with him.

"I'll be in my room," Itachi informed Pein, breezing right past his leader. "Please don't disturb me."

Orochimaru was ready to pass out with fear. Would he even live to see the sun again?

…or Kabuto…?

The walk to Itachi's room seemed to take the least amount of time possible. Had Itachi teleported himself there? Orochimaru shrunk down again, trying his best to simply disappear. Nothing could be worse than this; he knew exactly why Itachi had brought him back here now-there could be no other reason. As Itachi opened his door, Orochimaru felt his feet fall to the floor, and put his weight into them. Itachi's other arm, however, remained possessively around Orochimaru's shoulders, his grip firm and clearly instructing Orochimaru to stay close. _Yeah, like I was going anywhere,_ Orochimaru thought sullenly. He let his head fall to Itachi's shoulder, and hid his face in the dark fabric of the Akatsuki cloak. He could feel Itachi turn his head, trying to see what was wrong, but then, the missing-nin simply pushed open the door and stepped through. He tugged Orochimaru in after him, and Orochimaru complied obediently. He almost felt like a dog, pushed around, told what to do, and constantly looked down upon. Orochimaru found himself abruptly pushed ahead of Itachi, and stumbled with the sudden change of pace. Orochimaru collapsed to the floor, sprawled out on his hands and knees and wondering what he had done to deserve such harsh treatment. 

"Don't touch me," Itachi growled. "The master may touch the slave, but the slave may never touch the master!"

Orochimaru turned over, looking at Itachi with fear anew. He could hear the sounds of someone moving around in the next room, but didn't turn to look. He knew he couldn't take his eyes off Itachi for a second; he risked being taken by surprise. Then, he heard footsteps: footsteps that didn't belong to Itachi. It had to be Itachi's partner…what was his name…? He knew he looked like a shark, and probably had his own zip code, he was so big. Orochimaru felt the shadow of Hoshigaki Kisame suddenly fall over him, and swallowed hard. He could hear menacingly laughter behind him, and suddenly began to shake. He had no idea what Kisame's personality was like; for all he knew, he could be worse than Itachi! Hardly possible, but there was always that one percent chance…

"Itachi, torturing him already? What did the poor thing ever do to you, eh?"

Itachi gave Kisame a glare, and reached down to take Orochimaru into hand. But, to Orochimaru's surprise, another, much larger, hand came down and caught his, gently tugging him to his feet. Orochimaru followed Kisame's lead, slowly backing away from Itachi until he could feel Kisame behind him. Only then did he turn around.

It was as he suspected: Kisame was a building with feet. And he was blue! And he had gills on his cheeks! Orochimaru tried his best not to shiver in disgust, but it was hard when the one who was trying to comfort you looked like a shark!

"Leave him alone for just the rest of the day, Itachi," the shark-man was saying. "Just give him a little while to get used to the place, and then have some fun with him. If he breaks too early, nobody's happy. And besides, he need time to write up some sot of note for the Oto-just to let them know what's going on."

Itachi gave a disparaging snort. "Blackmail 'em," he said, "Because they're not getting him back."

"Itachi," Kisame started. He paused, though, to consider his next words. "I don't think you should do that to him," he said slowly. "He can't possibly put up with you, tormenting him every day for very long…and the Oto is going to flip a shit, and then they'll attack us, and then what? We'll all die, I'm certain of it."

"Then he's dying right next to me," Itachi said passionately. "If I can't have him, no one can!"

Kisame sighed. His words were having no effect on the Uchiha; none at all. "Itachi, I'm going to be very frank with you," Kisame finally said. His voice was low, almost whispering, when he uttered his next words: "He hates you. I hate you for what you're doing to him. Now, I am not a nice guy. That's old news. But when it comes to rape, I can't just stand by and let it happen. I will not let you force him to even die for you, just because you're jealous."

Itachi's eyes narrowed, and he simply glared at Kisame for a moment in shock. It seemed that he couldn't believe Kisame was standing up for a low-level slave who had brought in simply at Itachi's request. "I've been silent all this time," Kisame continued, "But now that you've shown me your true intent, I'm afraid I can't just let you continue like this. Don't get me wrong, Itachi," Kisame added in quickly, "I respect you, hell, even fear you, a little. Those crazy eyes of yours could probably kill me in minutes. And I can't say that I won't put up a good fight. But, Itachi, his heart belongs to another. It's up to Orochimaru whether or not to give it to you. And that's one thing you can't ever take, from anyone, ever: their heart. Don't try to make someone hand over their entire self just so you can get what you want, again."

For a moment, Itachi just seemed floored by Kisame and his nerve. Then, his eyes narrowed, his teeth grit, and his lips lifted off his teeth in a snarl. "Well, then," he said menacingly, and flounced right past the two. Kisame wrapped his arms protectively around Orochimaru's shoulders, drawing him closer to him as Itachi passed. As the Uchiha slammed his bedroom door, Orochimaru heard a sigh of relief from Kisame.

"I'll regret that later. But for now…" He turned Orochimaru around, and bent down so he could look the sannin in the eye, "Don't spoil Itachi even more. I promise, I will let you see your lover again-even if it's only to say goodbye."

Orochimaru, too was floored by Kisame. _Well…maybe he's not so bad…_Orochimaru allowed himself a small smile. "Thank you," he whispered, sinking into a low bow. "Kisame-sama…I am forever in your debt…for what you are doing for me."

Kisame offered Orochimaru a small smile, and motioned to the sannin to follow him as he headed for the kitchen. "Come on; share it over something to eat. You must be starving."

**A/N: Yay, chapter!! : ) Review, please!!**


	10. Chapter 10

Orochimaru was quiet.

That was the first thing Kisame noticed about him. He had also noticed that Orochimaru had a tendency to avoid Itachi whenever possible. Understandable, given Itachi's track record. Orochimaru also tried to be near Kisame whenever Itachi was around. Ever since Kisame had first stood up for Orochimaru three days ago, Orochimaru had taken to him. Orochimaru had come to possess a deep hatred for Itachi and what he had done to him, and seemed to make that abundantly clear to Itachi. Disgusted glares and blatant moves towards Kisame only fueled the fire which Itachi had set burning, and the Uchiha was close to boiling point. And, with Kisame going out on a mission the next day, Orochimaru was well aware he was in trouble.

And trouble just seemed to come sniffing him out.

Kisame was forced to leave early, on Pein's orders. Itachi was clearly smirking as the shark-man left, and the second the door closed, Orochimaru split for the bathroom. Itachi caught him by the upper arm, though, and Orochimaru felt his heart drop to his stomach. He shrank back with a small whimper, trying to fight down the desire to collapse to his knees and beg. He was trying to be better than that, but fear seemed to override all of his senses. Itachi kicked the door shut, and Orochimaru could hear multiple locks sliding into place. "Wouldn't want to be disturbed, now, would we?" he purred, sliding closer to Orochimaru. One hand slipped treacherously low into the small of Orochimaru's back, but the other kept his arm in a vice-like grip. Orochimaru tried feebly to push Itachi away, but to no avail. Itachi's grip didn't relent in the slightest. In fact, it might have even grown stronger. Itachi let out a hiss of warning, but that was all Orochimaru got before he was brutally shoved into the wall. "I'm done playing around, my beauty," he whispered, forcing his hand lower, to cup Orochimaru's ass in his hand. "I am so tired of you defying me, time and again…I think it's time I taught you some manners." Orochimaru let a small, trembling whimper escape his throat, and wrenched sideways against Itachi's grip. Fear blossomed in the snake's dark eyes, and he shrank back as far as he could from Itachi. Itachi, however, did not even seem to notice Orochimaru's attempts to break free, and instead leaned forward, Taking Orochimaru's mouth in a sweet, almost gentle kiss. Orochimaru was surprised at Itachi's lack of animosity, but knew to be on his guard. Itachi was as unpredictable as a tornado, and even more deadly and destructive.

Itachi caught Orochimaru's next whimper in an even deeper kiss, letting a low moan escape his throat. Orochimaru tasted bitter-sweet, like dark chocolate. On the surface, it tasted as bitter as anything. But, beneath that, he was so sweet, and tasted like emotion itself. Itachi was addicted to Orochimaru's sheer essence, he swore. He could almost physically feel Orochimaru's fear, creeping up and over his body, spreading like a virus and taking over Itachi's mind like poison…! Oh, sweet fury…

Itachi broke away from Orochimaru at last, heaving in a breath and then diving back in and seeking more of the deep, fulfilling pleasure Orochimaru had to offer. Sweet, sin-dark eyes closed, and hands began to roam. Itachi pinned Orochimaru to the wall using his own hips, and only then did Orochimaru try to fight back. But, by then, it was too late. Itachi had Orochimaru firmly in his grasp, and there was no way out. Even a snake, notorious for being able to escape anywhere, couldn't possibly hope to get away from Itachi.

Orochimaru felt Itachi's hands drop to his thighs, and then circle around to the insides, sliding up between his legs. Orochimaru whimpered a protest, trying to push Itachi away, but barely succeeded in doing more than irritating the man. Itachi angrily parted the thin kimono Orochimaru wore, shoving his hand sin and completely taking over.

And such as it went, every single time. Itachi ripped the kimono from Orochimaru's pale, skinny body, casting it aside and barely breaking the kiss. Orochimaru was fighting like there was no tomorrow at this point, but little more than a firm slap to his ass corrected that. Orochimaru whimpered, but quieted under Itachi's hands, seemingly defeated. Itachi spun him around, pressing the destroyed sannin against the wall and running one hand down, over Orochimaru's smooth ass. His fingers slipped into the crease, and Orochimaru found himself fighting down tears. _Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, please, don't do it!!_

Too late.

It seemed Orochimaru's mental prayers were ignored as Itachi brutally shoved two fingers up his entrance, not bothering to even accustom his love slave to being penetrated so violently. Orochimaru couldn't help but scream: in pain, in betrayal, in terror, in fear, who knew? Or maybe it was all of these emotions simply colliding. Orochimaru let out a broken sob, gasping in surprise as Itachi's other hand came up to cover his mouth.

"What have I told you, countless times, about keeping your mouth shut?!" the Uchiha hissed. Orochimaru lost control of himself at that point: tears boiled over, streaming down his face and dripping down onto Itachi's hand. Itachi didn't even seem to notice, shoving another finger up into Orochimaru. A muffled scream of agony tore from Orochimaru's throat, caught by Itachi's hand. Orochimaru twisted himself desperately in Itachi's hands, searching for any way he could get out of Itachi's torturous grasp. Unfortunately, there was none. Itachi began to draw his fingers in and out of Orochimaru, at least taking the time to get him used to the feeling. Orochimaru could feel something beginning to lubricate Itachi's fingers, and realized he was bleeding. He hardly cared, though: it had happened so many times that Orochimaru could swear he was developing an immunity of sorts to bleeding as badly as he normally would have. Or maybe he just didn't feel it anymore.

"Keep quiet, now," Itachi purred, and Orochimaru felt his hand slipping mercifully away from his mouth. He took in a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for Itachi's entrance. Itachi continued finger-fucking Orochimaru as he undressed himself with his other hand, clearly doing so as quickly as possible. He didn't even bother with his shirt: he simply dropped the Akatsuki cloak, kicked off his pants, and stepped forward again. He removed his fingers from Orochimaru, winding his clean hand around Orochimaru's waist, drawing him closer. "Come here, you little whore," Itachi hissed, pulling Orochimaru back-and directly onto his erection. Orochimaru bit down a scream, instead only allowing himself a choked sob. Itachi seemed satisfied, and remained still with Orochimaru for a moment. Orochimaru took several deep, heaving breaths, trying to calm himself. Orochimaru could hardly keep from turning and attacking Itachi, but he knew it would do no good. Itachi already had him in his grasp; trying to escape would only bring him punishment. He tried to hold still and accept Itachi's desires, but nothing built his hatred for this man more than the very act that he was committing.

Itachi moved.

Orochimaru bit back another scream of pain, but at Itachi's next thrust, he couldn't hold back. Orochimaru screamed, and couldn't control himself anymore. He vaguely registered Itachi screaming at him, and an impact on the back of his neck, but everything went fuzzy after that. Orochimaru could hardly feel his own body, numbed by the trauma of what he was going through. _I loved you…I loved you, and look what you're doing to me! I would have gladly given you everything…but then you took it. You hurt me, Itachi, more so than I could ever forgive. Itachi, I'm so sorry…but I'll always hate you. And I will never, ever forgive you._

OOOOOOOOO

It had taken Orochimaru a while to actually lose consciousness, but he didn't need to be conscious to know that Itachi had taken some sick advantage of him even after he had lost it. He could hardly move from pain when he woke up; Orochimaru wasn't even sure how long he'd been out. Looking at the clock gave him no idea: it only said five minutes after he had passed out. It could be an entire day later, it could be twelve hours later, it could be whole days later…! Orochimaru slowly pushed himself to his feet, trying to maintain his shaky balance. He was so dizzy…why…? Orochimaru clutched at his stomach, staggering into the kitchen and grabbing the nearest glass, which, by some strange chance, was clean. No one had touched it, let alone drank from it! Orochimaru got himself a glass of water from the tap, gulping it down almost all at once. He paused, gasping and leaning on the sink, already feeling the strength beginning to return to his body. The nausea was fading. Orochimaru sank to the floor, letting the glass fall into the sink. He simply sat for a moment, panting in the stress of moving. After a moment, however, he willed himself to get up and move. He managed to walk over to the closet and find some cookies, which he didn't even bother to stop to chew. He needed something high-energy, and needed it fast! He swallowed the cookies whole, and then replaced them in the closet. There was no telling where anyone was: the entire apartment looked completely empty, although it was broad daylight. Orochimaru realized that he needed something like five days of nutrition in one day, and also that that was physically impossible to obtain. But he needed to get the essentials first. Carbohydrates, for energy…protein, to maintain muscle mass…calcium, so his bones wouldn't break with Itachi's constant harsh treatment. Iron, most vitamins he needed right away…Orochimaru sighed with defeat. Well, the thing he would need most was protein, and the carbohydrates. So, go for whatever rice he could find, put some vegetables and meat on it, and eat. Orochimaru couldn't afford to waste time: the more time he did waste, the more likely it was that Itachi would come back. Orochimaru hurriedly dug through the fridge, coming up with some sliced ham a load of bread, and some cheese. Well, it would do. He put together a sandwich and ate as he cleaned up, trying to cover his tracks. Orochimaru then began looking around, searching for Itachi or Kisame. Surprisingly, neither of the missing-nin were there! Orochimaru was shocked: Itachi had left no one to babysit him? As Orochimaru looked around the apartment more, though, he was beginning to think it was true. Not even a note, no nothing! Orochimaru sat down on the couch, put his feet up, and continued eating his sandwich. Nothing like disobeying the rules without punishment. He finished eating and went right back to the fridge, taking out a bottle of Gatorade and picking up his kimono from the floor. Orochimaru wrapped the thin garment around himself, tying the sash with a double knot in the back and unscrewing the cap on the bottle of sports drink. Orochimaru took a few gulps, but otherwise tried to take it slow. Let's see…vitamin C would kill him quick if he didn't get it. Peaches? Bananas? Oranges? Oh, Itachi had to have fruit around here somewhere! Ah, there it was…in the basket on the table. Orochimaru grabbed an orange for himself, and immediately began scarfing down the fruit. Orochimaru could feel his strength returning, and knew that he needed to do something-quickly, before Itachi came back! Orochimaru finished the orange, threw away the peel, and began looking around for paper and a pen. He found both on the desk in Itachi's room, and Orochimaru grabbed one of each. He bent down over the desk, scribbling a quick good-bye. He was escaping, and it was Itachi's arrogance that was allowing it. Not that Orochimaru was saying that: it might actually encourage Itachi to use that lovely lump of mush between his ears called a brain.

_Itachi-_

_Dearest, how could you do this to me? I loved you, gave you everything, and never protested, even when you beat me senseless and left me with bruises. I never told anyone…ever. I hid them as best I could, and always came back to you. I thought that maybe you were just upset that day, or you were on some new medication, or this, or that. I made up all sorts of excuses for you, even blaming myself. But I'm sorry-it got to a point where I couldn't make an excuse for you anymore. Rape is unforgivable, Itachi, and I'll never be able to forgive you for committing this against me. I truly loved you, Itachi, I really did-but you don't deserve me. I don't deserve your harsh treatment, your enslavement! This is out of the question. I'm leaving you, Itachi. Don't ever expect me to come back._

_Your dearly beloved-or used to be-_

_Orochimaru_

Orochimaru left through the window, and took off for Oto with nothing but the clothes on his back and a small backpack with food and water in it. He was not planning on ever seeing Itachi's face again, not even to say good-bye. The letter folded neatly on his pillow and addressed to him in Orochimaru's neat, curving handwriting was enough of a goodbye. It was stained with Orochimaru's blood and tears, and he would not give another drop of either to Itachi. Orochimaru dropped down out of the window, stealing across the open field before reaching the cover of the forest.

Orochimaru slipped into the blessed cover of the trees, concealed by shadows and trees alike, never to see Itachi again.

_I am not afraid to keep on living;_

_I am not afraid to walk this world alone!_

_Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiving-_

_Nothing you can say can stop me from going home…_

**A/N: E-mo…and smut. I left nothing out, expect maybe some action. But no one cares about that right? : ) Just kidding. Review, please!! Lyrics are the chorus from Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance.**


	11. Chapter 11

Kabuto was worried sick.

"But Kenshin!" he was protesting, "I can't just sit here and imagine what's being done to him right now! It's already been days, and you're still telling me to sit here?! Old man, he's not coming back without help! This is Uchiha Itachi we're talking about here; he doesn't exactly just turn a blind eye and let people escape from right under his nose!" Kabuto was nearly beside himself with worry, anger, and frustration: worry that Orochimaru was going through severe pain, and Kabuto wasn't even there to comfort him. Anger that he had allowed this to happen. Frustration that Kenshin wouldn't let him go. Wouldn't let him go to his lover! Kabuto had been fighting with Kenshin over these very matters for the past fifteen minutes. Kenshin's demeanor had hardly changed, but Kabuto was pacing back and forth and screaming at the top of his lungs at this point in time. Kenshin was still sitting in his chair, legs crossed, hands folded and resting on his knees, eyes calm and looking Kabuto right in the face. Kabuto was up and running, pacing back and forth and covering the entire room in huge steps. His arms were waving wildly in the air as he ridiculously berated Kenshin, and his mouth seemed to be going a hundred miles a minute. Kabuto was frustrated also, that Kenshin seemed not to be listening to him at all.

"I recognize that Orochimaru might be in danger," Kenshin said, annoyingly calmly, "But he won't be killed, or hurt too badly. Itachi keeps claiming to love him, right?"

"But what does that have to do with-?"

"Just listen." Kenshin gestured placatingly to Kabuto, and the genin stopped pacing for a moment. "Just shut your motor mouth for a Goddamn second, and let me talk." Kabuto reluctantly sat down in the seat across from Kenshin, huffing with indignance and pouting. Kenshin continued, smiling a bit at Kabuto's childish glare. "Anyway, Itachi keeps claiming to love Orochimaru, right?" Kabuto nodded. "So, if he does that, Orochimaru has a fail-proof excuse. He can just say, 'If you really loved me, you wouldn't do this.' And then, at least, Itachi feels bad. Well, not feels bad, but it bugs him. And Itachi wouldn't want to hurt his lover too badly, now would he? He's probably just giving him a hard time, making him do some dirty work, taking him to bed, and leaving it at that; now, I know what you're thinking: that's awful, I can't stand it, but think about it: it could be much worse. Itachi is probably trying to win Orochimaru over, so he won't be going too hard on him. Making him do something nasty, and then offering him a bit of kindness and pretending like he's risking something big to do it. So, Orochimaru's probably pretty well off right now…but, I am concerned about the long run. Itachi might get tired of waiting. So, start organizing a rescue team to leave in three days. I figure a week and a half is plenty of time."

Kabuto sighed, but nodded an affirmation. If he cleared his mind, and thought rationally, that was really a good way of thinking about it, and probably what was really going on…Kabuto sighed again, stood up, and simply left the room. Kenshin remained sitting in exactly the same spot, though, a smirk growing over his face.

"I'm always right."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru staggered through the woods, fighting the exhaustion that was threatening to take away his entire resolve and take over his entire body. One hand clutched at his side: broken ribs. Every breath was agony; every step a war in and of itself. Orochimaru had to fight himself simply to stay on his feet at this point.

He knew he was close-that, at least, was a condolence. At least there was a better chance of someone from Oto finding him than someone from Akatsuki. Orochimaru took one, last halting step, then stopped and leaned against a tree with the hand that wasn't clutching at his side in pain. Orochimaru stopped, doubled over and fighting not to vomit up everything he had just eaten. He knew he had to keep it down, otherwise he had no shot. Orochimaru let out a small whimper of pain, denying himself even more than that. He wouldn't even admit his weakness to himself.

Orochimaru heaved in a deep breath, stood up defiantly straight, and then took another step forward. One foot in front of the other: he would take this one step at a time. One more step…then another…his side screamed with pain, and his legs begged for him to stop. Blood dripped from his arms, legs, shoulders, stomach, back…oh, bloody hell, everywhere! It was crusted over almost all of his skin, and what wasn't coated in blood was bruised or cut in some way. Orochimaru could feel broken bones simply begging for mercy, but he ignored them. Orochimaru could feel endorphins beginning to flood his body, brought on by his desperate sense of emergency. He knew his arm was broken by the severe bruising and swollen area. His ribs were also broken; four on his left side and one on his right. He may have fractured his leg, as well, from the throbbing. He knew his opposite ankle had been twisted badly, and his opposite wrist was sprained rather badly. His shoulder had been dislocated twice, and Orochimaru had crudely shoved it back into place each time, ignoring the pain. But now, the strain of his injuries, the lack of rest, and the starvation was beginning to catch up with Orochimaru, big time. He was starting to feel faint and dizzy again, and the entire world spun like a top. Orochimaru was losing consciousness as he fell to the ground at last, and he was completely unconscious by the time he hit the ground.

He was on the pathway to Oto, only two hundred yards away from the gate.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"What was that?"

One of the guards turned from his post, staring out over the path leading to the Oto's main gates where he saw what looked to be a person lying in the middle of the path. "It looks like…it looks like a person," the second guard muttered, staring out over the horizon. His heart skipped a beat; it looked like..!

"Get Kabuto," the first guard said slowly, as if in a daze. "I think I know who it is."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Kabuto came running out of his lab the second Orochimaru's name was mentioned, sprinting out to the front gates and running right through, not bothering to ask about how long or why the gates were open. Instead, he remained fixated only on the possibly that Orochimaru might be back. He charged through the gates, skidding to a stop when he saw a guard kneeling on the ground, an unconscious form on the ground in front of him. "I didn't want him to wake up and have me be the first thing he saw," the guard said slowly, standing up and moving away from Orochimaru the second he saw Kabuto. Kabuto ignored the man, instead dropping to his knees next to Orochimaru and sliding one hand under Orochimaru's shoulders. He carefully lifted the man into his arms, putting one hand under Orochimaru's legs and picking him up, seemingly effortlessly. "He weighs next to nothing," he whispered. Kabuto felt tears prickle at the back of his eyes: his lover, abused and treated so badly! But he needed to take care of Orochimaru first. Revenge came later. But he would make sure that he got it! Kabuto rushed Orochimaru back into the village, down into the Oto's main complex and directly into the medical wing. Once there, he dodged into the first empty room he saw, laying Orochimaru out across the bed and immediately checking him for severe injury. "Get Kenshin in here!" he screamed at the first person he saw out of the corner of his eye. Turned out it was Kenshin.

"I see," Kenshin said, through gritted teeth. He came to stand next to Orochimaru, on the other side of the bed, lips pursed into a thin line. Kabuto glared, lowering his hand to Orochimaru's forehead.

"He's completely overtaken by fever," he growled, green chakra flaring up around his hand. "His immune system is failing due to overload. His heart is fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. His lungs are trying to keep up, but not doing well against the injury. One of them is punctured by a rib, five of which are broken total. His leg is fractured; his arm is shattered. His wrist and ankle are both sprained. He's severely underweight; about thirty pounds. He's taken over by acute exhaustion, and he was lucky to have even survived thus far. Right now, I'm trying to keep his body from frying itself alive."

Kenshin sighed. "I know, I know," he muttered, stepping away from Orochimaru to set up an IV. "I feel terrible, okay? Is that what you're looking for?"

"Precisely."

Kenshin sighed and gently pushed the needle into Orochimaru's unbroken arm, pursing his lips with concern until they were almost invisible. "He's dehydrated," he said slowly, sounding genuinely hit by Orochimaru's condition. "Kabuto…Kabuto, I'm sorry. I didn't think it would go this far…"

"Check the undersides of his arms for cuts," Kabuto said tersely. "He has a history of cutting."

Kenshin gently lifted both of Orochimaru's arms, searching for the long, angry stripes of red that would signify that their Kage had been cutting. Surprisingly, though, his arms were almost completely free of the deep wounds that Orochimaru tended to inflict upon himself. Kenshin focused a bit of chakra to his right hand, laying it on Orochimaru's ribs and trying to heal them. He carefully pulled the broken rib out of Orochimaru's lung, fusing the bone back together and closing over the lung. Kabuto had gotten the fever under control; he worked with Kenshin on Orochimaru's ribs for a time, and then went on to help strengthen Orochimaru's immune system. He began fighting off the many diseases that threatened Orochimaru right now, clearing the sannin's body of most of its afflictions. The rest, he ignored. Even Orochimaru's weakened system could handle that, and he needed to focus on Orochimaru's more serious injuries.

"He put himself into a coma trying to get back," Kenshin whispered, "My God…Orochimaru, I'm so sorry…"

"Can I get that in writing?" Kabuto muttered. "Because I want him to hear that…"

Kenshin glared, and Kabuto shut his mouth.

Two hours later, both ninja were almost out of chakra and about half the population of the Oto was clustered at the doorway, asking about Orochimaru. Kabuto refused to answer questions, just telling them that only the medical staff he had personally chosen would be allowed into the room. Kenshin then came out, and started yelling at people, and then _everyone_ ran away from the door. Kenshin shut the door, only opening it once to allow a young nurse into the room. Kabuto recognized her as Mikoto, a highly trained nurse that reported directly to him. She immediately set about taking Orochimaru's vital signs, while Kabuto and Kenshin continued to heal Orochimaru. Finally, another twenty minutes later, Kabuto collapsed into a chair, completely spent and totally exhausted. He only had something like one tenth of his chakra left, and Kenshin had completely emptied himself into Orochimaru. There was almost nothing left that was wrong with his body: but he was still unconscious. Mikoto was still hovering around Orochimaru, though, and so Kabuto kept an eye on her. She seemed to be leaning over him, saying something…Kabuto caught a spark of chakra, and Mikoto's hand began to glow green. Kabuto was surprised to say the least; he had never even known this girl could use chakra! Kenshin leaned over, muttering, "I didn't know she could heal." Kabuto shrugged.

"I didn't either. But, I'm checking her chakra right now; it's perfect."

Mikoto turned around suddenly, raising a green hand to get Kabuto's attention and letting the chakra dissipate. "He's awake!" she announced with a smile. Then, she stepped back, motioning to Kabuto to come over. "I figured the first thing he should see is you," she said softly, stepping back.

Orochimaru's eyes fluttered open.

Kabuto sat down on the edge of the bed, near Orochimaru's hips, and raised a hand to take Orochimaru's in his own. Orochimaru turned his hazy, golden eyes to catch Kabuto in their hypnotizing gaze, and, for a bare instant, Kabuto caught an unheard of expression on Orochimaru's face: unreadable. He could see a mixture of emotion in it, including relief, desperation, and underlying pain. Orochimaru looked…almost…innocent?

"Kabuto…"

There was only the unspoken word passed between them, and then, Orochimaru simply leapt into Kabuto's arms. Kabuto threw his arms around him, finally feeling the stress of the last few days come pouring out. Bittersweet tears stung both of their faces, and Orochimaru buried his face in kabuto's shoulder, trying to hide the shame of weeping for his pain.

"My love," Kabuto whispered, reaching up and tenderly stroking Orochimaru's hair. "I swear, I won't ever let them touch you…ever again. Never. Never again."

"Don't," Orochimaru said softly, sitting back and setting his hands on Kabuto's shoulders. Such beauty Kabuto saw when he looked into Orochimaru's tear-filled eyes! Such love, such trust for his lover, such pain for the sufferings he had endured! Such innocence suddenly radiating from his prone form, which Kabuto seemed to bask in as Orochimaru's hands moved to fall from his shoulders and rest in his lap. "Don't swear to me such a thing. Because then it will happen again, and we'll both be sorry for our vows."

Kabuto shook his head. "I can't accept that," he whispered, taking Orochimaru's slender, fine-boned hands in his own. "My love, I simply can't accept that. I will fight, every step of the way!"

Orochimaru leaned forward, gently placing a soft, sweet, chaste, kiss on Kabuto's lips, tasting the pain of the past few days and taking it all into himself. "I know you will," Orochimaru whispered, pushing himself into a sitting position. "But, please, don't kill yourself over it…" Kabuto shook his head, pulling Orochimaru closer to him and taking him into his arms.

"I wouldn't. Besides, then I wouldn't be able to see you."

Orochimaru smiled, shifting closer to Kabuto and moving sideways, so that he was half propped up against Kabuto's shoulder. Orochimaru was lying out across the bed, curled up with his head and shoulders against Kabuto's chest, hands wrapped around Kabuto's neck, clutching at his lover like there was no tomorrow. Kabuto could tell how badly Orochimaru had been traumatized by this simple gesture: the day Orochimaru became clingy was the day he totally lost it. It wasn't quite there yet, but Kabuto could sense the underlying grounds set for a blow; set up so that when that final, fatal blow fell, Orochimaru would be traumatized beyond repair. "Love can kill, and love can resurrect," Kabuto whispered, gently reaching up and stroking Orochimaru's hair. Right now, he just wanted him calm; nothing else mattered. He was mostly healed; the trauma they would just have to deal with as it came. All he needed was to relax, rest, and get a good meal into him. And love, however cliché it sounded.

"What one does with it is up to their heart."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"_He's gone!!"_

Itachi had been out for a minute and a half, and when he came back, his love slave was gone! "Where is he?!" he screamed, rounding on Kisame. The blue shark-man merely shrugged, taking a swig of the black coffee in the mug he held in his hand.

"I dunno," he said. "I went down to the training rooms for, like, a few hours. I sparred with Kakuza, and then Hidan taught me some good sword techniques. And then I had my normal workout-"

"Okay, Kisame, I don't care!"

Kisame, at first, plastered a shocked, hurt expression on his face. Then, it changed to something like disgusted disdain. "Well!" he huffed, holding up a hand to Itachi and turning away from him. "Be that way!" Itachi rolled his eyes, ignoring the blatant drama in front of him.

"How long were you gone?" he pressed, otherwise ignoring Kisame's overdramatic remarks. "I know you left before I did, but I was in and out all day."

"I got back at around eleven," Kisame replied. "I left at eight."

Itachi gave a hum of annoyance, and then resumed his furious ranting and pacing. Kisame gave a snort of laughter at this: what with all that waving around of the hands, Itachi had to have some Italian blood in him. Heh…Itachi. Italian. And Pein was an Egyptian belly dancer. Kisame almost choked himself on that one, but managed to turn away from Itachi before letting his grin take over his face. He grabbed the conveniently placed newspaper and unfolded it to a random page, pretending to read to hide his snorts and fits of laughter. Pein even female was funny enough, but Egyptian...? Plus, the skimpy costume, and all that, and…Kisame was trying so hard not to be noticeable to Itachi, but he got the sinking feeling he was failing miserably.

The newspaper took a furious beating from Itachi's hateful words.

**A/N: I don't know what happened at the end…just kinda…got in the mood. After so much angst and cheesy romance, decided to take a break, I guess. Well, please review.**


	12. Chapter 12

_The wolves, my love will come  
Taking us home where dust once was a man.  
Is there life before a death?  
Do we long too much and never let in?_

Orochimaru was recovering well.

Kabuto had kept a careful record of the sannin's progress, keeping his very large medical folder in a safe, hidden location under something like seven locks and eight keys. He knew, though, that this was just the eye of the storm. He could keep the records as safe as he kept Orochimaru himself, and it would still hardly make a difference in the final showdown. Orochimaru needed to get up and fight for himself, otherwise he would be permanently hampered by his fears. Kabuto was now counting the days until the Akatsuki attacked: it had been seven days since Orochimaru had returned, and Kabuto estimated that Akatsuki would strike in about another week. He hoped he was wrong, and that they would strike later. Much later. When Orochimaru was feeling like himself again. Kabuto sighed and put the medical folder into the appropriate drawer, sliding it in under a false bottom and dropping a few more folders down on top of it. He then set about the process of putting the locks all back in place...

There goes another freaking fifteen minutes.

Howl!  
Seven days to the wolves!  
Where will we be when they come?  
Seven days to the poison  
And a place in Heaven!  
Time growing near as they come to take us

Orochimaru was sitting in bed, quite bored. The second he was well enough to work, he had gotten the hell out of the hospital, relocating himself to his own bedroom, suddenly so dreadfully far away. Kabuto, it seemed, had understood, and helped him walk back, knowing that Orochimaru's pride was rather delicate at this point. He needed to reinforce that stubborn hubris that Orochimaru seemed to have lost for good at this point in time. He did so by trying to crowd Orochimaru, to encourage him to push him away. It had worked fairly well-until Orochimaru had caught on. Then, he had just been mad, much to kabuto's satisfaction. Now, Orochimaru was sitting quietly, cross-legged on his bed, clothed in a pair of black pants and a loose half-fishnet shirt. He was bent over a notebook braced on one knee, writing fervently in it, as if his very life depended on it. And for Orochimaru, it may well have: it was a new jutsu. Total obliteration was the key in this one: if a ninja focused enough chakra densely enough in a point at one point on the earth, in theory, it should simply shatter outwards under the pressure, shooting out debris and collapsing everything for anywhere from ten feet to ten miles in a firm radius outwards from the ninja. Of course, the distance depended on how much chakra one focused, but Orochimaru was fairly certain that the human limit was about ten miles.

"Feeling better?"

Orochimaru glanced up from his notebook, taking a quick look up to see who had entered his bedroom. Kabuto...Orochimaru knew he had been in the kitchen for a while, supposedly making food for the both of the, but Orochimaru suspected that his medic was mixing in some new medication with the food. He said nothing, of course: as long as he wasn't the guinea pig, he couldn't care less what he ingested.

"I made some tea," Kabuto continued, walking over to Orochimaru and sitting down on the bed next to him. "Want some?"

"What kind?" Orochimaru asked, setting the pen and notebook aside. He sat forward a bit, and then leaned backwards, kicking his legs out in front of him and turning so his weight was focused into his right hip, allowing him to face Kabuto. Orochimaru centered the rest of his weight on his right arm, balancing himself between his hip and hand. Kabuto was pleased: Orochimaru had broken that arm in three places, and that hip had been severely bruised and cut when he had first come back from Akatsuki.

"Jasmine," Kabuto replied. He had made the tea with Orochimaru in mind: he knew jasmine was Orochimaru's favorite kind of tea.

"Sure," Orochimaru said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, working around Kabuto. "I'll come into the kitchen. Getting a little stuffy in here."  
Kabuto gave a disparaging snort. "I'll say," he grunted. "There's so much candle and incense smoke in here, I doubt you'll be surviving for much longer. This spells lung cancer in huge, flashing neon sign."

Orochimaru couldn't help but laugh at Kabuto's prediction. "I'm switching soon, anyway. I promise I'll ease up after that."

Kabuto nodded once. "Good," he said tartly. "I can only do so much about cancer."

This is my church of choice,  
Love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice  
For the rest, I have to say to you  
I will dream like the god  
And suffer like all the dead children

Kabuto poured Orochimaru a hot cup of tea, handing it to his master and then sitting down with his own cup of tea. Kabuto could appreciate this moment: Orochimaru was getting better, and much better, at that. But there was still so much to be cured...the post traumatic stress, the injuries themselves, the lingering fears...Kabuto knew that Orochimaru was making significant progress, and also that he was healing at an alarming speed, but also, he was just hiding his fears. The terror that lurked beneath the surface would never go away...at least, not until Orochimaru faced it. His strength would be in how much he had with Kabuto, in leaving Itachi, despite the consequences. Kabuto knew that it would strengthen Orochimaru if his lover was his source of strength. He had a hunch that it would be relatively easy for Orochimaru to recover if he faced down his fears one at a time, and not have to deal with Itachi again.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen until Itachi was dead.

Howl!  
Seven days to the wolves!  
Where will we be when they come?  
Seven days to the poison-  
And a place in Heaven!  
Time growing near as they come to take us!

Orochimaru took long, slow sips of his tea, thinking hard about his current predicament. He needed to face Itachi sooner or later, that he knew. But, frankly, he would much rather it be later...maybe when he had something resembling dignity and self-esteem left...?

Orochimaru stole a quick glance at Kabuto. The easiest way to conquer his fears was, perhaps, gradual exposure. Or, everything all at once, and, in the stress, just close the eyes and hit the gas. And then, strike while the iron was hot. Orochimaru had to sigh with resignation. The only way to do this quickly was exposure. And what was the easiest way to conquer most of his fears at once?

Have sex.

Is this where heroes and cowards part ways...?

How lovely. Orochimaru would now have to go whore himself out, under the excuse that he needed to conquer a fear that was given to him while he was being raped. Go figure!

Light the fire, feast  
Chase the ghost, give in  
Take the road less traveled by,  
Leave the city of fools,  
Turn every poet loose

Kabuto caught Orochimaru's eyes, and found himself pondering what the Kage was thinking at the moment. They needed to do something, and do it fast. The problem was, Orochimaru had limits, and very small ones, at that. Kabuto gave a rough exhale, almost matching exactly the Kage's own sigh. "What?" Kabuto asked suddenly, catching Orochimaru's molten eyes once again. 

Howl!  
Seven days to the wolves!  
Where will we be when they come?  
Seven days to the poison  
And a place in Heaven!  
Time growing near as they come to take us

Orochimaru shook his head. "Just thinking," he murmured. "About Itachi…"

Kabuto seemed to understand, and scooted closer to Orochimaru, taking one of his hands in his own. "We can do this," he said softly, drawing Orochimaru's gaze to his own. Molten lava met hot volcanic ash, meeting in a vaporous mixture of passion and concern. Kabuto knew how much pain Orochimaru was in: what he didn't know was how to ease it. But, hey, he could try.

"Look, I understand that he's powerful, and that you're almost on the same level. No, wait, just let me finish," Kabuto added quickly, seeing Orochimaru's look as he mentioned their difference in power. Orochimaru seemed depressed, suddenly deflated. "The only reason he's above you is because you think he is. You're afraid of him. If we can banish that fear, we can move ahead! We just need to work on…I don't know, raising your self esteem, or something, I don't know. What makes you so afraid of him? What makes you automatically submit to him?"

_Howl!  
Seven days to the wolves!  
Where will we be when they come?  
Seven days to the poison  
And a place in Heaven!  
Time growing near as they come to take us_

"How about the fact that every time I see him, it usually turns out to be bad for me? Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, either way it's going to be bad for the pitcher. And you can look that up-Don Quixote. Tayuya was doing something with it, and quoted it to me when I scolded her for her language, and she defended with that quote, saying that she was provoked. But, anyway, every single time he seeks me out, or I am forcibly brought to him, it always turns out ugly. I end up beaten, raped, and then pretty much left for dead. How exactly am I supposed to feel?"

Kabuto sighed. "Not quite what I was getting at," he murmured. "I know what he does to you, Orochimaru-sama, you don't have to remind me of that. What I wanted to know was why you didn't fight back to your fullest potential."

"Because when I do, he always squashes me like a bug and then just gets worse with me."

Kabuto had had a hunch, but wasn't entirely sure of the reason Orochimaru didn't fight as hard as he normally would. Then he realized: the fear itself was driving Orochimaru down deeper, and it only got worse and worse. This was exactly what Itachi wanted: for Orochimaru to slowly be chipped away until he was completely nothing, and Itachi's mindless puppet. He knew now that the situation was even worse than he had originally feared, and that something-anything!-had to be done.

Heroes, cowards, no more!

"We can't run," he finally said, standing up. He took Orochimaru's hand, pulling him to his feet and coaxing him up and after him as he walked into Orochimaru's room. "We are not running. We are not going to sit here and simply wait for Itachi to attack again. We are not going to let this go on a second longer. You shouldn't have to live in fear for Itachi's mistakes."

_Heroes, cowards, no more!_

Orochimaru could see what Kabuto was doing. He had brought him back into his bedroom, and was now lighting sticks of incense: lavender. Itachi's least favorite. They were going to simply burn incense? What else was Kabuto planning? Then, Orochimaru could see the chakra leaking off Kabuto's form, loading into the incense and cramming itself in like gunpowder. Orochimaru could see what Kabuto was doing: turning incense into fireworks. The second Itachi picked one up, it would turn into a live bomb. And Kabuto was lighting so many, Itachi would be forced to put at least a few out. It was a nice way to make Itachi mad; it wouldn't hurt him.

"Strike one."

_Heroes, cowards, no more!_

Kabuto began moving around the room, setting up booby traps everywhere. Orochimaru was taking it that the entire package was "strike two." Partly, because Kabuto was setting way more than the classical three, and partly because he seemed to be slightly holding back. Orochimaru just hung back, memorizing every place a trap was laid and trying to remember what he was going to do to get Itachi into them without getting himself killed. Kabuto seemed to be enjoying himself: he had set close to twenty traps, and wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

"Strike two."

Kabuto finally stepped back, picking his way around the room to join Orochimaru in the doorway. He looked upon the room, seemingly in admiration at his own handy work. Orochimaru had to hand it to him: it was very impressive, what Kabuto could do with some kunai, a bunch of shuriken, and some trip wire that Orochimaru had lying around his room. Probably not the greatest place for it, given Itachi's tendencies…but still, it had been there, because Orochimaru mostly had it hidden within easy reach. He was just that well-loved that he had to sleep with a knife under his pillow and a katana under his mattress. But, it seemed Kabuto wasn't finished yet: he had whipped out a seal tag and started scribbling on it, making as many marks as he could fit onto the tag using a ball point pen Kabuto had probably stolen from Orochimaru's desk. Orochimaru peeked at the slip of paper in Kabuto's hand: it was a ninjutsu seal. And it seemed that Kabuto was setting it to trip the second Itachi entered the vicinity. It was set to create an earth clone that would pass as Orochimaru until Itachi killed himself in Orochimaru's deathtrap of a room.

"Strike three, and you're out."

Kabuto stuck the seal tag to the back of the door, and then closed the door.

"And now we wait."

OOOOOOOOOOO

And wait, they did. For the rest of the day, Orochimaru went over the battle plans he had written out for his ninja. He was going to have the earth clone in his room, and he was going to be in Kabuto's room with Kimimaro. Everyone else knew the plan: Tayuya, Jiroubou, Kidomaru, and Sakon and Ukon all were going to be outside, in various places, and Kabuto and Kimimaro were going to be the only people actually inside the room with Orochimaru. Orochimaru was just going to go about his day normally, and they were just going to sit and wait, Orochimaru with his chakra masked, and the Sound Five all in hiding. Orochimaru just sat around, really, trying to recover. He couldn't focus on anything, and mainly just sat with Kabuto, just…talking. Anything and nothing, they discussed it, even just talking about their plans for the night. Orochimaru was certain Itachi was going to come; Kabuto was skeptical, and had several theories as to why. The two went over these, and eventually, Orochimaru had just gotten so worked up, Kabuto had to calm him down with a bit of tea and a soothing word. Orochimaru just needed to vent right about now, but Kabuto could find no healthy way for him to do so. So, he just sat with Orochimaru, and let him cry.

After a good ten minutes, Orochimaru seemed to feel much better, and was able to eat dinner and keep it down. Kabuto was happy about that: it was the first time Orochimaru had eaten a big meal since his capture and was able to keep it down. He just hoped that nothing would happen to make Orochimaru lose that food. Kami-sama knew he needed it. Kabuto sat with Orochimaru at the kitchen table, sipping tea and going over the latest of the experiments. They managed to kill several more hours this way, until finally Kabuto made Orochimaru go to bed. He sat down next to Orochimaru for comfort, and spent the entire night there.

He felt like he was being watched the entire night.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Several more nights passed this way. Kabuto and Orochimaru would sit up, usually until eleven in the evening, and then Kabuto would coax Orochimaru into a deep, fitful sleep. Sooner or later, Orochimaru would wake up, usually around nine in the morning, and then the two would eat breakfast. Then, they would simply pass the day normally-although with tighter nerves, and more highly-strung spirits. Orochimaru could practically hear his nerves singing: the entire day, especially this last one, he had been feeling rather unnerved. But why, and how, were entirely different stories. When Kabuto finally forced Orochimaru to sleep, he felt so much more reluctant, and voiced his concerns to Kabuto. The genin merely frowned, and promised Orochimaru more guards, and that he would never leave his master's side throughout the entire night.

It was in both of their best interests, decided the Sharingan glowing in the corner.

**A/N: I made the ending a little overly creepy, and this chapter was a tad bit short…I decidedly lacked muse. School has fried almost every creative thought in my mind. . Review please-building up to climax!!**


	13. Chapter 13

Kabuto knew that, the past couple days, someone else had been in the base. Unwelcome, unbidden, and, the most dangerous part of all, undiscovered. He knew exactly who it was, although the intruder failed to reveal himself. He knew exactly where they were, and had decided at the very first moment of detecting them that he would not leave Orochimaru's side until they left. Kabuto had not broken that promise to himself as of yet-he hadn't left Orochimaru's side the entire of the four days that the man had been there, watching, waiting. Kabuto could feel the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise as soon as his back was turned, and he could feel the blood red eyes of the other boring straight into his back, staring straight into his soul. He could tell Orochimaru felt it, too: the way the sannin would occasionally shiver, and cast nervous glances back and forth, indicated that his nerves were strung up high. Kabuto would then step in, and try to get Orochimaru's mind off it. But it was hardly worth the trouble: they both knew what was going on, and no one could do a thing about it.

Tonight was different, though.

Itachi was here, they all knew it. Even Orochimaru's guards were nervous, and they seemed to spook at their own shadows. The Sound Five clung to Orochimaru like static electricity, never farther away than a few yards. Orochimaru wasn't sure what to make of the situation: he hated being crowded, but he knew to send away his guards was to ask for trouble. But…he sighed, shaking his head. Orochimaru turned over in bed, well aware of the shadows shifting in the corner. There was a flash of red, and he was certain that everyone in the room had seen it. From the surprised inhales of air, he knew Itachi was growing bolder and bolder. Orochimaru couldn't stand it anymore! He turned over again, this time onto his back, and fought his way to a half upright position, bracing himself up on one of his elbows. "Alright, that's it," he muttered, moving over a bit in the bed to stand up. "Itachi, I don't care who you think you are, but I want you to get your ass out here, and at least stop stalking me!"

Nothing.

Orochimaru growled in frustration. The damn Uchiha was playing with them! He was playing them all like a violin, down to the lowest guard in this room. Kabuto rose from his seat in the corner, moving to stand next to Orochimaru. He sensed Orochimaru's distress, and began searching for Itachi's chakra.

"Itachi!"

There was a rush of air, and Orochimaru could feel Itachi's chakra swirling around in the winds. The Uchiha was getting agitated, or he was getting ready to appear. Orochimaru could feel his heartbeat pick up-his worst nightmare, facing him the dead of night. Now, if that's not the fullest extent of nyctophobia, one can't even define the word to Orochimaru. The snake stepped forward, though, trying to face down his fears as best he could. His heart was racing like the pounding hooves of a herd of wild horses. His breathing was swift and labored, the beats of a tribal drum counted out in the furious inhales he took to satisfy his rapidly beating heart. Orochimaru's skin crawled with anticipation; Itachi was still toying with them. The winds picked up again, caressing almost gently the skin of Orochimaru's near-bare body and asking-no, begging-him to come closer, to lose himself in the pure essence of Itachi's soul. Orochimaru resisted the pull; if Itachi caught him now, it would be all over.

Itachi appeared.

As if torn apart and then reassembled by wind, the Uchiha appeared, in all his stunning glory and terrifying presence. Blood red eyes tore apart the scene in front of him, moving from the Sound Five, clustered uncertainly behind Orochimaru, to Kabuto, standing protectively next to his master, and finally, on Orochimaru himself, trying to appear strong and in defiance of Itachi. But still, Itachi caught that fatal flicker of fear in Orochimaru's eye, despite his determination not to show that very same fear. The very same fear that Itachi had put there. That very same fear that Itachi had instilled so deeply in Orochimaru that it caused him to flinch whenever someone raised a hand to him. The very same fear that Itachi was now hell bent on setting in stone, so never to have any doubt in anyone's mind that Orochimaru was his, and only his: his to touch, his to have, his to do with as he pleased, when he pleased-! No one else could even come close to Orochimaru, not without Itachi's permission and supervision. No one would ever have Orochimaru as he did-no one else loved him like he did. And that would never change; Itachi would never allow Orochimaru to fall to the touch of another, for he would hardly experience it.

"Orochimaru."

Orochimaru felt Itachi's words creep down his spine, and send shivers down it until Itachi's voice settled in a cold pit in Orochimaru's stomach. Still, the snake swallowed his fear, and replied, just as coldly, "Itachi."

Itachi seemed not to take into mind his target's harsh tone of voice, instead moving towards him. A viper struck either sinuously slowly, or frighteningly fast. Itachi was choosing the faster of the two methods, and it was killing Orochimaru, still he fought not to back away as Itachi suddenly appeared right in front of him, reaching out with one hand to touch him. Orochimaru tried to keep himself steady as Itachi's frigid touch ran down the side of his face, Itachi's traitorous hand stroking gently down Orochimaru's face, as if trying to calm him. "My darling, don't spit my name, as if you hate me," Itachi purred, leaning ever closer to Orochimaru. Orochimaru recoiled, seemingly in disgust, swatting Itachi's hand away.

"Don't touch me."

It was the first time-no, the second time-that Orochimaru had stood up for himself, the first having ended in disaster. And so far, Itachi wasn't liking the disobedience. His face twisted into anger, and his hand came back, ready to strike Orochimaru. Still, the sannin didn't move. His eyes slowly closed, denying his punishment, and Itachi's anger only seemed to build. Was Orochimaru mocking him?! Offering him his free access to do anything he wished to Orochimaru? Itachi's right hand, hovering over his left shoulder, came down in a swift backhand, fully intending to smack Orochimaru down to the ground.

His wrist was caught in long, pale fingers.

Orochimaru's fine-boned hand had snapped up, catching Itachi's hand in his own. Orochimaru's eyes suddenly seemed to flash with a new fury, snapping open to reveal dark molten lava, threatening to boil over and erupt. For a moment, the only thing on Itachi's face was shock. How _dare _Orochimaru even think about defying him?! He belonged to him, the little bitch, and that wasn't about to change! Itachi angrily aimed a strong punch at Orochimaru's stomach, only to have that caught, as well. Orochimaru's eyes seemed to light afire, and, in a flash, it looked like Orochimaru's entire body had lit on fire.

Dark purple flames trickled off his form: the deadly waves of chakra that Orochimaru possessed that seemed to be eternally haunting him, begging Itachi to take him, pulled in by that alluring aura…Orochimaru shoved back against Itachi, twisting his held wrist until he could feel the bone beginning to feather towards the hairline fractures that preceded actual breaks. "Led me on, repeatedly beat me senseless, raped me multiple times, kidnapped me, tortured me, starved me, and finally almost killed me-I. Have. _Had it!!" _Orochimaru shoved Itachi back, and a loud, resounding, _snap! _issued from his arm. Itachi allowed himself a small grunt of pain as the bruises began to form around the break, but backed off for a moment. Orochimaru grabbed a kimono from next to his bed, and threw it on, over his boxers. He wasn't fighting Itachi so exposed. The kimono hardly created a deterrent, but it gave Orochimaru a bit of a confidence booster. Knowing he wasn't completely exposed brought a bit of comfort to his mind. Itachi, meanwhile, took a few reeling steps back, clutching at his wrist as if tightening his grip would lessen the pain, or prevent further injury.

"Itachi, you just didn't listen to me," Orochimaru said softly, slowly lifting his head to meet Itachi's furious gaze. Crazy red eyes glared back, and Orochimaru could sense the utter lack of sanity within their treacherous depths. He tried not to meet Itachi's eyes, but felt a certain numbness at staring into them. "I told you," he continued, taking a step towards the shaking Uchiha. "I told you I hated you." Orochimaru stopped, only three feet away from Itachi, within striking distance. "I told you what you were doing to me was rape." Itachi straightened, but one hand still remained on his severely broken wrist. "I told you I didn't want you to touch me, and yet you did it anyway! I told you I didn't love you, the first night you raped me, and you still tried to win my love! I told you, a thousand times! I screamed it to you, I cried it to you, I begged it to you, I wrote it to you-you just couldn't take no for answer!" By now, Orochimaru's voice had risen to a shout, and all his emotions simply came pouring out. "I told you, that I could never love someone who could do something like that to someone they wanted to love them, and all you could tell me was that I didn't know what I wanted! Itachi, I'm not a child! If anything, I'm older than you! And I just can't stand it anymore! I can't live with this! And if you won't end this…" Orochimaru suddenly faltered, as if realizing exactly who he was talking to. But still, he swallowed his fear, and delivered the final blow: "If you can't end this, than I will!"

For a moment, the entire room fell silent, every single person present simply shell-shocked at Orochimaru's outburst. Not since…well, long before Itachi had come back, had anyone seen Orochimaru blow up like that, or even stand up for himself. Kenshin was standing in the door, drawn by all the shouting: even he was silent for once, not a single comment in his bank left to combat that one. Finally, Itachi seemed to know what to say.

He laughed.

He flat-out laughed.

"My, my, my, Orochimaru, finally grew a spine, huh?" he leered, standing up straight and letting his arms fall to his sides. "I don't know just who you think you are, talking to me like that…a slave doesn't give their master such attitude, do they?"

"_Don't you dare mistake me for your fuck toy!!"_

Orochimaru slapped Itachi.

The sannin had had it up to here with Itachi's controlling mechanisms, and was completely through putting up with them. Itachi took the brunt of the hit, head snapping to the side with the sudden force of the blow. Itachi fell to the ground, landing on his injured hand with a short, sharp, grunt of pain. Orochimaru wasn't finished, though: he took a step back, and continued berating Itachi:

"I loved you!" he screamed, fighting down his raging, crashing emotions. "I loved you, and all you did was take advantage of that love! You asked me to do something I couldn't do for you, and then you showed me who you really were! I can't take it anymore, Itachi! I thought you loved me, for everything I did for you! I risked my neck for your sake, went out of my way to please you, all because I loved you, and thought you returned that! I am absolutely, positively, beyond done with you! I can't believe I ever even tried to love you!"

"You mean to tell me that every one of those kisses was fake?" Itachi whispered, trying not to see the full picture. He just didn't want to. Orochimaru shook his head sadly, covering the lower half of his face with his hand.

"Not all of them," he whispered, feeling his breaths hitch. "But hell, Itachi, it's not the kisses that matter right now. It's every time you couldn't respect me, and took me, even if it meant tying me down, beating me senseless, and then raping me so hard I bled. I can't forgive that, Itachi, no matter how much I used to love you."

By now, Itachi was truly fighting hard not to see what Orochimaru was trying to make him see. He pushed himself to his knees, and then to his feet, gaze fixated on Orochimaru the entire time. He could see the tears welling up behind Orochimaru's dark golden eyes-tears of pain, tears of remorse, tears of regret, tears of sorrow, tears of horror…horror, because of what Itachi had become. And now, Itachi couldn't help but feel those two first tears, soft and delicate as they were, lance right through his heart like the sharpest of spears.

"I can't even remember…" Itachi started, averting his eyes from Orochimaru's, "The last time I actually desired your touch…and not to be touching you."

"That's what I mean!" Orochimaru cried, suddenly erupting again. "I told you…I told you, and you never freaking listened! Itachi, please…please, for my sake…tell me the truth. The whole truth. I don't care how brutal it is, just please…please, please, please, please, please…I beg of you, please….just tell me the Goddamned truth."

Itachi glanced expectantly at Orochimaru, trying to glare through his own emotions, suddenly unleashed from behind their eternal dam of Itachi's pride.

"Did you ever…ever, in our entire relationship…did you ever love me?"

Itachi seemed struck at the question. It seemed like such an obvious answer! Still, Itachi stopped to think about the question. Considering his recent actions, and even those of before, Orochimaru must think he hated him…Itachi fought with himself for a time, trying to figure out how to phrase his next sentence. His entire life could possibly depend on it, because Orochimaru had said it himself: he would end it if Itachi couldn't see it.

"Orochimaru…understand at least this. I loved you at first. I really, truly did. But then…I suppose my love simply became…tainted…with lust. I couldn't see you as what you really are…and I only saw you as someone I could have my way with. I suppose that, deep down, there is still that purity of love…but I can't seem to grasp it anymore." Itachi finally worked up the courage to face Orochimaru. "Please try to understand, love…I tried. But I failed. And, I know you can't do this, but I am going to ask for your forgiveness…"

Orochimaru paused, suddenly torn between his heart and his head. All sense of logic seemed to tell him-no, scream at him-to get far, far away from Itachi, or even to kill him-! But his heart only wanted to be back in Itachi's arms, to have that sweet, honest touch back again, stroking his hair and wiping away his tears, comforting him, telling him he was okay…but no. Not anymore. Now, Orochimaru had found someone else…someone he knew would never hurt him, not to save his life.

"Itachi, you and I both know, at this point, that forgiving you is out of the question. I'm so sorry, but…Itachi, I've already found another. Someone who I can be sure won't ever hurt me, or take advantage of me like you did."

Itachi glared at Orochimaru, and a spark of the old malice came back. Orochimaru flinched back from Itachi, unsure of what he should do. But one thing was for sure, he was frightened. Itachi had brought him nothing but pain so far, and Orochimaru saw no reason to believe that this time would be any different. But, suddenly, Itachi was no longer in his live of view. Instead, there was a silver ponytail in front of him, and a purple-clothed body blocking him from Itachi and Itachi from him.

"You heard him," Kabuto sneered, a kunai leaping to his hand. "He doesn't want you anymore! Get out!"

Itachi's eyes flashed in anger, but he ignored Kabuto's barb. "Orochimaru," he growled, "Don't think that I'm completely remorseful for this-"

"Don't lie to me," Orochimaru snapped, taking a step to the side to see around Kabuto. "I saw your eyes-you can't hide that from me. You see now, how much you've hurt me. Admit it, Itachi! You still love me, you just can't admit it! Don't try to lie to me! Because if you do, I can't be held responsible for my actions, nor the actions of my ninja!"

Itachi seemed struck by the idea that Orochimaru-or some of his ninja-would actually attack him. He seemed to turn this over in his mind for a moment, and then finally relented to Orochimaru: "Yes, I still love you. Somewhere, deep down in my heart, I do still love you. I just can't express it very well. There, are you happy?"

Orochimaru only offered a wordless nod. "Thank you," he whispered. He then took a step forward, gently placing a hand on Kabuto's shoulder and stepping around him. "Look, Itachi, I just…I can't deal with this right now. Nor can I allow you to stay. You need to go back to Akatsuki. Maybe someday, I'll seek you out…and tell you I've forgiven you. But, be aware that I will never feel the same way about you again. You've just hurt me too much for that. Please, Itachi, just…just, spare us all the pain, and…leave. Please, just go. I just want to be alone, and have some time to think about all of this…"

Itachi didn't move for a moment. For one, fatal, second, Orochimaru looked up, and thought Itachi was going to attack him. The Uchiha seemed to teleport instantly to Orochimaru's side, placing one cool hand on the side of Orochimaru's face. Orochimaru froze, not moving with the suddenness of Itachi's movements. But, soon he felt the true nature of Itachi's motions, in the soft touch on his face, the way he seemed not to pressure him as his lips gently grazed Orochimaru's, stealing a precious kiss from white-hot lips-

And, just like that, he was gone.

**A/N: School has fried every creative thought in my brain…but then, I started listening to Nightwish, and it all came back. : ) So, review, please!!**


	14. Chapter 14

Orochimaru could feel Itachi's hot, sweet, overpowering presence leaving him. Leaving him? Wait, what?! Wasn't Itachi supposed to want nothing more than to take him, and simply have his way with him? Why was he leaving? Had Orochimaru actually gotten through to him? It made no sense! But still, even after Itachi's chakra vanished from perception, Orochimaru stood stock still, as if caught in some twisted time-warp. Slowly, though, Orochimaru could feel shock creeping through his system, spreading like a deadly-neurotoxin and taking over his entire system.

Orochimaru's body swayed dangerously before pitching backwards and completely collapsing in a heap.

Kabuto leapt forward, catching Orochimaru in his arms and easing the man to the floor, laying Orochimaru out across his lap and quickly checking over his vital signs. A quick sigh of relief; his fears were eased. Kabuto could see that Orochimaru had simply passed out from the shock of the encounter, and he would recover shortly. The rest of the ninja in the room, previously in a shock-induced stupor, suddenly roused themselves at the shock of seeing Orochimaru faint and rushed over to Kabuto, crowding around him to make sure their lord was alright. "He's fine!" Kabuto grouched, motioning them away. "Back off, let him breathe!"

Orochimaru came to seconds later, blinking several times and trying to figure out what had happened. Kabuto helped him sit up, kneeling on the floor next to Orochimaru and bracing the sannin upright with a hand on his shoulder, and one hand of Orochimaru's in his own. "I know I sound totally clueless," Orochimaru started, sounding almost breathless, "But…what the hell happened?!"

"Um…" Kabuto glanced around the circle of ninja, searching for some way to tell Orochimaru this gently. Finding no help, he sighed and decided to just be straight with Orochimaru. "Well, once Itachi left, you just blacked out. But don't worry, it was purely from shock," Kabuto added quickly, seeing Orochimaru's stricken face. "Your memory should return shortly."

Orochimaru nodded. "I think I remember now…"

"Good," Kabuto said. "But, just in case, watch it for the next couple of days, just to make sure that it's not a brain problem with this body."

"Yeah, yeah," Orochimaru muttered. "While you're at the brain scan, can you check for STDs?"

"I'll knock you out first. The trauma might be a bit much for me to-"

"Alright, thank you!!"

Kabuto offered a wry smile, noticing the looks of jealousy on several of the females' faces-and some of the males'. They would probably kill to be the nurse in that room when Kabuto checked Orochimaru over…

Kabuto slowly stood up, offering Orochimaru a hand. Orochimaru took it gladly, pulling himself to his feet and regaining his balance. Kabuto stayed him with a gentle hand on his shoulder; Orochimaru brushed him off after a moment, having found his center of balance again. Kabuto suggested that Orochimaru sleep somewhere else, just for tonight, to make sure Itachi wasn't pulling anything dirty. Orochimaru agreed, and Kabuto offered up his own room. Orochimaru agreed in a heartbeat, and the two started off for Kabuto's room.

Kenshin stopped them in the doorway.

"What?" Kabuto grouched. "I know you saw everything, what could you possibly have as an objection?"

Kenshin shrugged. "Just wanted to ask what you're gonna do about Itachi's remaining residue," the old man commented lightly. Kabuto glared.

"If you're referring to the trauma, I plan to just work through it slowly and carefully," Kabuto answered evenly, and then pushed past Kenshin, taking Orochimaru's hand and pulling him past Kenshin. Orochimaru followed Kabuto quietly, too tired and frazzled to even think about protesting at this point. Orochimaru walked the short walk to Kabuto's room in a fog, allowing Kabuto to lead him by the hand. The second Kabuto opened the door, he pulled Orochimaru through, kicked the door shut, and took Orochimaru into the bedroom. Orochimaru collapsed in Kabuto's bed, too tired to even walk in a straight line right now. Kabuto offered him a small smile, and sat down next to him on the bed.

"Just quiet down and sleep," Kabuto advised, slowly raising a hand and letting it fall to Orochimaru's hair. The genin's hand began to move in a gentle, stroking motion, and Kabuto took up the soft caresses almost without thinking. Orochimaru subconsciously moved into Kabuto's hand, shifting closer to his loyal servant.

But then again, was Kabuto even a servant anymore? He couldn't be just a servant, just another lackey to boss around…he had pulled Orochimaru through much, on such a personal level…couldn't there be more to…well, them? Orochimaru sighed, allowing his golden, honey-colored eyes to slowly close. Kabuto recognized the gesture as Orochimaru asking him to be left alone, and withdrew his hand from the sannin's dark, silky hair. He stood up, placing a soft good-night kiss on Orochimaru's lips before leaving his bedside.

Orochimaru could feel the shiver that went down his spine like he had just been kissed by a bolt of lightning.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning, Orochimaru awoke on his own terms.

It was quiet; sunlight streamed in through the window, the curtains drawn halfway, allowing light to flood the room. Orochimaru found it pleasant, having woken up enshrouded in darkness for the past few…um, years…? Orochimaru turned over, facing away from the window, and slowly opened his eyes, trying to gradually get them used to the light. As he got his eyes adjusted, Orochimaru noticed a figure at the other end of the room, bent over a desk, hurriedly scribbling something a notebook. Purple clothes, a long, silver ponytail, a white sash-it was Kabuto. What was he doing? Orochimaru hesitantly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. At the sound of the sheets rustling, Kabuto took a quick glance over his shoulder, straightened a bit to do so. A smile slowly worked its way over his face at the sight of Orochimaru sitting up, and he abandoned his notebook and pen to walk over to Orochimaru and sit down next to him.

"Good morning," Kabuto greeted softly, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Orochimaru's lips. Orochimaru accepted the kiss gladly, leaning over to accept it readily. Kabuto quickly withdrew, though, and so Orochimaru backed off as well. Kabuto shifted over a bit, so he was a bit farther away from Orochimaru's body, but Orochimaru didn't seem to mind the close contact. Still, he didn't move closer, either, so Kabuto allowed the matter to drop.

"Sleep well?"

Orochimaru nodded. "I did," he answered, shifting into a cross-legged position under the covers. The sheets slipped down off his shoulders, chest, and stomach, pooling around slender hips, just barely covered by his boxers. So, Kabuto had taken off his kimono, and then pulled the covers over him? How sweet…

"I should think so," Kabuto replied conversationally. "You slept for fourteen hours!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened, and he hurriedly looked around Kabuto's room for a clock. "What time is it?" he asked not finding one.

"Like, two in the afternoon."

Orochimaru sighed, rubbing his sinuses. "Jeez…it felt so good, but I'm so behind!" he groaned. Then another thought struck: "Hey, where did you sleep last night?"

"On the couch," Kabuto answered, rather off-handedly, at that. "I got to sleep at about one in the morning, after taking care of you, and then I woke myself up at about eight to start the day. I normally would have woken at five, but I knew my body couldn't do that, especially with all the stress. Besides, I wanted to be here until the sun rose. I just came back to check on you a few minutes ago, and then you woke up."

Orochimaru gave a small hum of recognition to Kabuto's statement, but otherwise remained quiet. His mind began to stray-towards the night just past. What was that all about, with Itachi finally coming to his senses? Actually bothered to take his medication tonight? Whatever it was, it was strange.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru snapped out of his reverie, glancing over at Kabuto. The genin had a concerned look on his face, and he seemed to be wondering if Orochimaru was alright or not.

"I'm fine," Orochimaru murmured. "Just…just thinking hard, I guess."

Kabuto gave a sympathetic nod. "Of course," he said. "But, we can figure that out later. I expect you want something to eat?"

Orochimaru nodded in return, swinging his feet over and off the side of the bed. Kabuto stood up, offering Orochimaru a hand. Orochimaru took it, although he didn't need it in the least. He pulled himself up and off the bed, grabbing the kimono from the previous night and draping it over his slender shoulders. Orochimaru hastily tied it closed with the sash that had been previously wrapped around it, and then waited for Kabuto to walk out into the main area of the genin's quarters. Kabuto led the way, stepping smoothly into the gap Orochimaru had opened. Orochimaru followed him as they walked into the kitchen, following Kabuto's instructions to just sit down at the table and wake himself up. Kabuto set down a glass of orange juice for him, which Orochimaru gulped down eagerly. Kabuto made them both breakfast, and they ate in silence. Kabuto, because he was eating: Orochimaru, because he had nothing to say.

Orochimaru finished first, and cleared the table when Kabuto was finished as well. "Thank you," he said quietly, sitting down again with Kabuto. "And not just for today, but…for every single day you sat by, and watched me suffer, and then did something about it. Just being there has made all the difference."

Kabuto glanced over at Orochimaru, seemingly shocked he would even say something. "Sure," he said slowly, "I guess…I mean, I wasn't just going to sit by and have all this happen…not to you."

Orochimaru nodded, and his hands fell to the table. His golden eyes rested on his hands themselves, seemingly as if trying to detract from the awkwardness of the situation. Still, Kabuto insisted on breaking the ice. He reached over, gently picking up one of Orochimaru's and holding it in his own. "Orochimaru-sama…don't blame yourself for what happened."

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly widened. What was Kabuto talking about?! Then, Orochimaru's expression softened slightly. Kabuto knew exactly what he was thinking. He was kind of blaming himself for parts of the abuse…he was telling himself things like, _you should have been stronger, _or, _you shouldn't have let it get that far. _While, deep down, Orochimaru knew that this was just part of human physiology, he couldn't help it: he couldn't allow himself to accept that what had been done to him was not his fault in some way.

"Itachi said it himself: he got carried away in wanting you. When you said no, he couldn't stand the thought of not having you. It's not your fault in any way that he's a selfish bastard, okay? Work with me, here. Don't beat yourself up for this: it's not your fault."

"I know that," Orochimaru said softly, turning his head to make eye contact with Kabuto. "But I just can't shake the feeling that, in some way, I brought this upon myself…"

Kabuto shook his head. "Not in any way, shape, or form," he said vehemently, taking Orochimaru's other hand. Orochimaru now turned to face Kabuto, sitting sideways in his chair. "Orochimaru-sama, just promise me that you won't dwell on this too much, at least?" Kabuto murmured, slowly standing up. He gently tugged his lover to his feet, and Orochimaru complied. The sannin gave him a small nod, and Kabuto was satisfied. "Thank you," he whispered, leaning in and stealing a swift, chaste from Orochimaru. Orochimaru flushed a dark peach color, and Kabuto couldn't help himself: he smiled, and kissed Orochimaru again.

"The only thing sweeter than your blush is your kiss," Kabuto promised, stepping back a small bit to see Orochimaru's reaction. As he thought: an even deeper flush, so much that it was beginning to spread from Orochimaru's cheeks down and along his face. Kabuto suddenly turned, releasing one of Orochimaru's hands and pulling him towards the window at the far end of the room. "Come on," he said, opening the window and letting go of Orochimaru's other hand. "I've got a great place where we can go." Kabuto climbed right out the window, leaving Orochimaru to wonder exactly how far it was to the ground. Too far, he decided, and pulled up his chakra, focusing it to his hands and feet and then climbing out the window. Kabuto was up on the roof, which was only about five feet from where the window was. Kabuto helped Orochimaru up and onto the roof, and then took off, heading east. Orochimaru followed closely behind, wondering all the while where they were heading. He had never gone this way before: it was all forest land, and Orochimaru figured that if one went far enough, they would hit a river. There was one out this far, but it was fairly not worth the effort to get to it, from what Orochimaru heard.

Sure enough, Kabuto pulled up at a river-but not the same river Orochimaru had heard about.

This river has a small strip of sand for a shore, and beyond that, grassy meadows. There were thickly-wooded forests behind them, and the sun filtered through sweet-scented pine trees, bringing the air alive with their soft scent. Orochimaru had to admit, it was beautiful: such a gentle scent, so light in the air…almost better than the incense he burned. He had to consider getting his hands on some pine scented incense. The river itself was beautiful, as well: the water was crystal-clear, and studded with rocks and boulders. There was a jetty a hundred yards away or so, which consisted of rolling black rocks that protruded out into the water like an overgrown weed. Still, it was beautiful, in its own right. Orochimaru couldn't help but stop and simply stare, taking in the sights around him. The entire thing...it was gorgeous. Kabuto stepped back, smirking.

"Well?" he asked, turning around to face Orochimaru and spreading his arms open in a gesture of questioning. "What do you think?"

"I love it," Orochimaru murmured, as if in a trance. He walked the few steps down to the water, leaving his shoes by the edge of the sand. "How did you come upon this?"

Kabuto shrugged, kicking off his own shoes and coming to stand next to Orochimaru in the water. "You know…chasing off idiots who feel the need to encroach on our borders."

Orochimaru smiled, and stepped a bit farther into the water. The warm water lapped at his feet, softly rushing over the skin and then pulling back, only to lurch forward again as the waves came and went, and the river continued to flow. Orochimaru suddenly loved it beyond all of his wildest dreams. The soft caress of the breeze..the cool waters over his feet…the grainy sand beneath his feet…it was all so calming, and it just took his mind completely off a certain Uchiha…

"Well?" Kabuto repeated.

Orochimaru turned to him, smiling widely. "It's perfect."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Itachi, was your mission successful?"

"Yes." A lie.

"And? What happened to him?"

"The same thing that always happens." Another lie.

"So, how soon do you think you can break him?"

"Soon." A third lie.

"How soon is soon? Give me a real answer, you child!"

"Three more visits." The fourth lie. Why didn't he see through it? Was he blind?

"_You think I'm blind?!"_

Pein viciously lashed out at Itachi, a brutal backhand swinging down from over his left shoulder, down and across Itachi's cheek. The Uchiha's head snapped back with the pressure, but he didn't even move from his position in front of Pein. Not a hair's breadth taken in either direction. Itachi slowly returned his gaze forward, calmly meeting Pein's enraged eyes.

"Tell me the truth, you insolent child!" Pein hissed, "Otherwise, I will inflict upon you the very pain that you inflict upon him!"

"I couldn't do it."

Pein froze for a moment, all emotion and color draining from his face. "You…what…?" he whispered, shock the only thing in his eyes now.

"I couldn't do it," Itachi repeated, just as coldly and emotionlessly as always. "He looked in my eyes, Pein, and told me exactly how he felt. And I couldn't do it anymore. You want him back…prey on someone else's past desires. But I am through harming one who only seeks to love me."

"So, he still has some attachment to you?" Pein pressed, hoping to salvage the mission.

Itachi shrugged. "Last words he spoke to me, he only wanted me away. Pein, it was rape. He looked me in the eye, and begged me not to touch him. What kind of lover would I be if I didn't listen to that pleading?"

"You didn't listen before," Pein hissed.

Itachi shrugged. "Something changed."

Pein let out a growl of warning. "Uchiha, you will get him back," he snarled, glaring at Itachi as if trying to punch his very soul out. "Or so help me Kami-sama, I will not be held responsible for my actions!"

Itachi shrugged again, impassive as always. "Very well," he said monotonously. "But, you had him before, and surrendered him to me. I doubt your intentions if you did nothing then."

"I did not have time to implicate my plans," Pein hissed, through gritted teeth. "Now, if you value your life, you will get the hell out of my sight, and you may only re-enter it once you have his ring or him in your hand!"

"Understood."

"_Now get out!"_

Pein couldn't stand to have Itachi's emotionless face in front of him anymore, and commanded him away. Itachi left swiftly, seeming to recognize Pein's anger, and the Rinnegan master quickly collapsed in his chair, behind his red cherry oak desk. His head fell to his hands in frustration; such a simple plan, gone so wrong. The only thing he wanted was Orochimaru's membership back. The damn snake needed to know who his master was, and that Pein had ways of making him obey. And since Itachi was lusting after Orochimaru anyway, why should Pein hold the Uchiha's leash any longer? He set him loose with orders to draw Orochimaru back by any means necessary. Still, the snake had remained stubborn and willful, and Pein had also tightened his grip. And then, he had him-! Only to have him slip through his fingers again. Curse the snake! Pein would even settle for the ring at this point…

Yes, the ring would do.

**A/N: Whoopee. Only one more chapter. Actually, boo-hoo. But I will be releasing another OroKabu/KabuOro story, so keep an eye out for that one after this one finishes up…I dunno, I might extend this one if you guys really want me to. I've fallen in love with this story. : ) Please review!!**


	15. Chapter 15

Kabuto sat with Orochimaru for what could have been hours.

The two of them had taken off their shoes and walked, barefoot in the sand, down to the jetty, where they sat together on the rocks for the longest time. Their feet dangled into the peaceful water, lapping at the rocks below. Occasionally, they would share a soft, sweet, chaste kiss, barely lasting longer than a few seconds. Orochimaru, Kabuto knew, couldn't handle anything more. Eventually, though, Kabuto moved closer to Orochimaru and put an arm around his master's waist, encouraging him to move closer. To his surprise, Orochimaru did just that. He scooted closer across the smooth surface of the wave-worn rocks, shifting his weight to put his head on Kabuto's shoulder. Kabuto's hand came up almost automatically, running through Orochimaru's raven locks. It was a comforting gesture, and one that only Kabuto was ever allowed to give. Had anyone else even touched Orochimaru, they would be dead…or in Kabuto's wing of the infirmary in critical condition, if Orochimaru liked you. But this was one thing that only Kabuto was privileged with: to be able to touch Orochimaru without fear, simply for the pleasure of touching him. It was almost enchanting, to hold such sway over his master, and to see that Orochimaru trusted him that much. Kabuto loved these moments, and he got the feeling that, deep down, however much he didn't want to admit it, he liked them, too.

"Kabuto?"

Kabuto glanced down at Orochimaru, almost startled by the sudden sound of the sannin's voice. He hadn't spoken since they reached the jetty. "What?" he asked softly, placing a gentle kiss on Orochimaru's forehead.

"What's going to happen…with Itachi?"

Kabuto sighed. He had been fearing this question ever since he had gotten Orochimaru back: ever since Itachi had come and gone. Not because he feared the answer. Not because he feared Orochimaru's reaction to the answer. No, he particularly feared this question, because he didn't have an answer. And what little he could scrape together to suffice as an answer was a poorly constructed half-sentence that offered no comfort, and usually offered quite the opposite. Try as he might, Kabuto couldn't pull together a decent response for Orochimaru-not to save his life, he swore.

"I don't know," he finally whispered, settling for the honesty over the lies that would only bring ruin upon them both. He felt bad about the negligence of the answer, but it was really the best he could offer. It seemed Orochimaru realized this, because he slowly sat up and turned, facing Kabuto and sitting sideways on the rock with his legs bent off to the side, still dangling slightly into the water. He still wanted to talk about it, though, and Kabuto let him. He had a right to ask, certainly, and more of a right to know the answer Kabuto had. Too bad Kabuto hardly _had_ an answer at this point.

"I was thinking, actually, and I was wondering…what you thought of that night." Orochimaru seemed perfectly serious and rational, so Kabuto let him continue. "Do you think Itachi really meant it? Or do you think he was faking it to make us think he wasn't coming back, so we would drop our guard?"

Kabuto thought for a moment. He really hadn't given it much thought at all…he had just been trying to pick up the pieces, and he was pretty much preoccupied with that. "I honestly can't believe that he would…just leave, after all that. But, I also get the feeling that something larger is at play, here." Kabuto had offered his complete and honest opinion, and, yet again, it left him feeling rather incomplete. But still, he offered a bit more: "Pein showing up seemed completely random, and out of place. It takes so much more to lure him out, from what I have gathered. What with Sasori…and the Akatsuki. I really do think that there was something else going on, and that Akatsuki got scared. And then, of course, moved for you. I think they're after what you used to have…"

Orochimaru's brow furrowed in question. "I ask your pardon?"

Kabuto couldn't help but notice that Orochimaru didn't use the traditional use of the phrase, "I beg your pardon." Of course; he would think it was demeaning, to beg, even if that wasn't what the phrase had come to mean. Orochimaru was just like that. Kabuto took this as a sign that Orochimaru was starting to get back to himself again-and that was a very good sign. "I'm a bit confused, here; you'll have to excuse that."

Kabuto smiled and gently waved off the comment. "Nothing to forgive," he said. "That was for dramatic effect. You know, in the weird stories they write about our awkward epics suddenly made dignified? All those little fangirls try to build suspense by stretching out conversation unbelievably. It takes four lines and six dialogues to get across an affirmative, whereas normal people would just say 'yes, dammit!' And then, there's also the four pages of tragic past and a crying scene, where emotion is racked up to the highest, and then a plot twist. Predictable."

Orochimaru couldn't help it: he laughed. It wasn't even his usual, "I'm going to eat your face," laugh, it was a pleasant, true sound. It had a much lighter undertone to it, and Kabuto found that Orochimaru's true laugh almost sounded like a soft hum. It was beautiful, and Kabuto could hardly keep down the urge to just grab Orochimaru and kiss him. "My, my, you seem to know the business," he said slowly, moving to sit closer again to Kabuto. The silver-haired teen merely shook his head.

"Seen way too many sappy movies."

"Tayuya's fault?"

"Of course."

Orochimaru smiled. There was even something different about that: Kabuto could see it in his eyes. It was another true expression of emotion, and Kabuto found himself elated at the sight of it. How long, then, since Orochimaru had last smiled? And truly smiled, not the sadistic smirk he usually wore? It was amazingly beautiful…simply amazing. "Anyway," Orochimaru continued, tossing his lengthy hair back over his shoulder, "What were you saying?"

"I was mentioning that Pein and Itachi wanted something from you-or rather, Pein did. He was just getting Itachi to do his dirty work, by preying on Itachi's strong lust for you. I think that Pein wants your ring, or he wants you. He doesn't want you leaking any secrets, and he only recently figured out the supposedly best way to do it. Or, he just wants the ring. You kind if made off with it when you left…that creepy hand of yours? Yeah, that's it."

Orochimaru gave off a disparaging snort of laughter, waving off the comment. "That freak can just go cry in a corner," Orochimaru snapped, "Because he's not getting it back!"

Kabuto smiled. That was much better! Orochimaru sounded like he was coming back from what Itachi had done and, while he was nowhere near one hundred percent again, he was closer than ever before. Now, if only it would stay that way…

"I'm glad you're feeling better," he commented lightly, drawing one knee up to his body. His foot left droplets of water spattered across the stone, looking like teardrops had fallen from the eyes of a once-broken snake…

Kabuto perished the thought.

Orochimaru was fine, and would be from now on. Kabuto knew he would need to fight for it, though. Itachi wouldn't be easy to stave off, especially with his strong desires for Orochimaru. But Kabuto had confidence in Orochimaru: when the sannin wanted something, nothing short of utter despair and a brutal beating could persuade him otherwise. And even then, Orochimaru usually looped around for round two. He was far too intelligent to do it the same way twice, unless it was truly the smartest thing to do. Kabuto could easily see Orochimaru taking care of this one-with a bit of support, of course, but it would be an easy task if Orochimaru set his mind to it…

"Love? What's wrong?"

"Love?" Since when had Orochimaru used such affectionate terms? And since when was Kabuto the object of said affectionate terms? Kabuto shook it off. He had heard Itachi refer to Orochimaru as "love" more than once, and thought that maybe that was where the term has surfaced from in the recesses of Orochimaru's mind.

"Kabuto?"

Kabuto jerked back to reality, and found himself staring at a rather concerned-looking Orochimaru. He found himself staring into those beautiful eyes, and was speechless all over again. He mentally smacked himself, though, scaring himself back into reality-yet again. "Sorry," he whispered, tearing his eyes away from Orochimaru. An even more concerned look passed over Orochimaru's face, and he lipped closer to Kabuto, raising a hand to his love's face.

"What?" he murmured, gently settling his hand on the side of Kabuto's face. "Did I say something?"

Kabuto's head snapped back around to stare at Orochimaru in shock. "Orochimaru-sama-! God, no, Orochimaru-sama! It's not you…well, actually it is, you're just…" Kabuto took a deep breath, seeing the sudden hurt on Orochimaru's face. He knew he would have to explain himself fast to avoid truly hurting Orochimaru. "You're just so perfect, and in every way…you're beautiful, and you just capture me, and you don't let me go. And the way you're referring to me as your lover now…well, it's more than I deserve, to be the lover of such a beautiful, striking creature. Surely you were created from the hands of God himself, with such beauty."

"But my mind sure came from Satan," Orochimaru said softly, settling back to himself. But, as his hand fell from Kabuto's face, the genin raised his own hand and caught it, gently cradling Orochimaru's hand in his own.

"Impossible, if it is capable of recognizing pain and asking about it," Kabuto rebuked, placing a soft kiss in the palm of the hand he now held. "You might not be an angel, but you're not a devil, either."

Orochimaru's smile eased all of Kabuto's fears. "Now that, I can live with," the sannin said, and Kabuto knew he had gotten past that obstacle. He was happy, really. The genin stood up, but kept his hold on Orochimaru's hand. He then pulled the sannin to his feet, taking him in his arms and offering a slow, sweet kiss. Orochimaru accepted gladly, leaning in closer and wrapping his arms around Kabuto's neck. A soft, gentle pair of hands settled on his hips, slowly massaging Orochimaru's hips to get him reacquainted with the feel of another person's hands so close, and so intimate-without pain or fear. Surprisingly, Orochimaru seemed to take well to the gestures, only a small ripple of fear shown in the smallest hesitation in his kiss. But it was more than Kabuto had even hoped for, and decided not to push it. His hands remained on Orochimaru's hips, slowly moving in circles over Orochimaru's hips. He tried to stay as far away from the center line of Orochimaru's body as he could, for his master's comfort and sanity. He was being as gentle as possible; this wasn't supposed to be stressful in any way, shape, or form.

"Well, well, well, looks like anyone can find happiness."

Kabuto jerked away from Orochimaru, gasping with surprise at the foreign voice. He shouldn't be here; he shouldn't be anywhere even remotely near here! Kabuto's hands immediately tightened on Orochimaru's hips, and his hands slid up to encircle the snake's back. One came up to press between Orochimaru's shoulder blades, holding him close. Orochimaru, in return, crowded closer, shrinking into Kabuto's hands and practically coming out and begging him to keep him safe. Kabuto would anyway; the unspoken plea reached his ears, and tore at his heart like a knife. "What are you doing here?" Kabuto snarled, turning his head to face the intruder. The man gave a small, one-shouldered shrug.

"Came to apologize. Felt guilty, I guess."

"You?" Kabuto snorted. "You?" he repeated, and for a moment, thought he blacked out with shock. "You're the cause of all this! You're the one who raped him, beat him, kidnapped him, held him against his will-!"

"I know what I did!" The sudden outburst caused the raven-haired man to raise his hand in a gesture of anger, but just as quickly, he lowered it, seeing the fear flickering across Orochimaru's face intensify several fold. His hand balled into a fist, and his red eyes slid closed. "I just couldn't take it anymore…I thought…look, I won't even make excuses. My mind was clouded with lust. I thought I loved Orochimaru, and I thought he loved me back. Meanwhile, I was only causing him pain. I came to tell you that what I was doing, I did under orders from Pein. He wanted me to break you, so you would do whatever I told you to, and then take you back to Akatsuki, nothing but a broken toy. He only wanted to keep the secrets of Akatsuki from spilling out. But, at this rate, he said he'll settle for your ring…"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "Give me one reason why the hell I should believe you after all you put me through," he growled. But, despite his harsh words and tone, he crowded even closer to Kabuto, wrapping his arms around Kabuto's neck for a more secure feeling. In turn, Kabuto's arms tightened around Orochimaru's waist, and a hand came up to gently stroke his raven hair, calming him down slightly. Orochimaru didn't want anything to come between them ever again. Itachi would have to physically drive them apart if he wanted Orochimaru for himself!

Itachi shrugged aimlessly. "You an have each other," he answered flatly. "I don't care anymore. Although, Orochimaru, I do apologize for hurting you so badly. I do swear on my very blood that I will not ever touch you against your will again." One hand disappeared behind Itachi's back, and Kabuto immediately tensed. Was he going to attack? Was he going to-? Oh, yes. A kunai appeared in Itachi's hand, but his posture seemed entirely relaxed. Kabuto's eyes immediately shifted away from Itachi's acknowledging the other's Mangekyou. Still, he kept his eyes focused on Itachi's hands and feet, searching for movement. But the movement that came was not that which Kabuto expected.

Itachi raised the kunai, as if to strike n opponent beneath him. But the only thing beneath the kunai in his right hand was his left hand. And strike, Itachi did: his hand. He drove the kunai down into his palm, cutting it open quite violently. Kabuto's eyes widened in shock as he watched the blood begin to flow rather quickly and rather heavily from the stab wound, and then Itachi yanked the kunai out. He dropped the knife to the ground, letting it drop straight into the dirt and remain there. He took out a blank scroll, and laid it out on the ground. The Uchiha then dropped to one knee, dipping the first two fingers of his left hand into the blood streaming from his right. He wrote his name, perfectly and clearly in kana, and then stood up again, stepping back from the scroll. "And there you have my promise," he said. "Sealed in blood." Itachi's chakra sparked, and then a green aura concentrated it self around his left hand. Itachi laid his hands upon one another, and the stab wound in his hand healed over perfectly. Kabuto was surprised, but then remembered that Itachi had probably been to see Konan, the healer of the Akatsuki, many times, and aimed his Sharingan at her while she was healing something of his. Kabuto was impressed then, with both Itachi's bloodline limit and Konan's healing skills: the chakra concentration was perfect, and smooth throughout the entire process. Once Itachi had healed his wound, he stepped back-

And completely vanished.

Instantly.

Kabuto immediately dragged Orochimaru over to where the scroll lay, picking it up and testing it for authenticity. He knew Itachi's prowess lay in genjutsu: he could very well have faked the whole thing. But not this time: the blood was real, the scroll was real-even the blood that had fallen into the dirt had seeped through the back of the scroll. Kabuto sighed. "A blood contract," he murmured. "He willingly gave us his blood, and then left. We could do anything with this! Orochimaru-sama think o the vengeance you could wreak upon him for this! Everything he's done to you, everything he's caused to happen to you, all the pain and suffering you endured on his account-"

"No."

Kabuto halted immediately, glancing at Orochimaru with concern. "What?" he whispered, unsure he had heard Orochimaru right. The sannin simply shook his head.

"No," he repeated. "I'm done with him. Just seal his blood, and use it to keep him out of the Oto borders. I can't kill him…unless he tries anything again. But after he apologized…and since it was on orders…"

"He could have disobeyed," Kabuto said strongly. "He could have faked it, or lied, or-"

"To go against Leader-sama is suicide," Orochimaru said firmly. "I don't have to kill him.  
Kabuto froze, suddenly knowing what Orochimaru meant. His mouth snapped shut with the realization: Itachi had sacrificed himself to save Orochimaru. Maybe…maybe he did love him after all…Kabuto sighed, and rolled up the scroll. He put it into his kunai pouch, and then gently took Orochimaru's hand in his own.

"I'm so sorry."

OOOOOOOOOO

As Itachi expected, Pein was waiting at the border for Itachi.

"Well?" he asked hungrily, almost immediately hounding the teen. "Do you have the ring? If not, you had better have him on a leash for me!"

"I've got something better than his ring for ya," Itachi snarled, holding out his hand. In it was a ring, indeed, but it wasn't the Sora. Pein glanced at the ring for a moment, and then his eyes jumped to Itachi's ring finger.

It was bare.

"Traitor!" Pein screamed, lashing out at Itachi. Itachi simply allowed the blow to land, the force knocking the ring onto the ground. Itachi let that go, as well. His head snapped to the side, and he took a staggering step back, absorbing rather clumsily the force of Pein's fist. "Do you not fear death?!" Pein continued, lashing out again. This time, his punch knocked Itachi to the ground, where the Uchiha simply sat, awaiting the next blow. He said not a word: he waited for Pein, sitting on the ground with his weight in one hand and hip, legs bent and off to the side. His head was down, expressing his submission to Pein. No, he did not fear death anymore: he feared not even the furious Pein, towering over him and purely livid.

"Pein, I do not fear death," Itachi finally said, after a furious beating. "Nor do I fear you. What I do fear, though, is my lover's safety: and I know that you will continue to disturb it. And so, I have cast a spell over him and his entire village, to keep him safe: but it only works under one condition."

Pein snickered. "What good can you possibly do?" he asked, stepping back and crossing his arms angrily. He did not believe Itachi could do anything after that beating-there was simply nothing left he could do, it seemed.

"The victim must be willing," Itachi began, slowly bringing himself to his feet. His orientation was off, given Pein's incredible force, but he managed to right himself and stay standing fairly well for someone who had just gotten the crap beaten out of them. "And his adversary must truly hold resentment at the moment of the spell-as you do." Itachi raised his hand, forming a single hand sign with the blood from his lips in his palms. "And they must die together."

"You think you can defeat me?" Pein shrieked, reaching out again and taking Itachi's throat in a firm grasp. He easily lifted the slender Uchiha off his feet, but Itachi seemed to feel no more pain.

"Check…and mate!"

The screams could be heard for miles.

OOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru awoke that night screaming.

As he sat bolt upright in bed, a small whimper escaped his throat-a whimper of fear. He had just had the most awful dream-Pein was beating Itachi to a crap, and then Itachi suicide when Pein touched him, and he had done it to keep Orochimaru safe-

"Orochimaru-sama!" A young girl dashed in, a kimono bound around her waist and a razor-edged fan in her hand. "What happened?!" Yuki, one of Orochimaru's female servants and personal guards, was the first to make it into the room, Kabuto and then the Sounds quickly on her heels. Orochimaru shook his head.

"Just a dream." he whispered. "It was nothing-"

"Then, explain this!"

Kabuto held out his hand, and in it, was a half-unrolled scroll. In the center was Itachi's name, written in large letters, with two distinct swipes down each kana-the scroll from earlier. But now, there were many more incantations on it, and the runes were etched in gold into the paper.

"He did something!" Kabuto cried. "He did something!"

Orochimaru's hand slowly came up to cover his mouth. "My God," he whispered. "Oh, my God…oh, my God!!" Orochimaru could feel the sting of tears behind his eyes, and buried his face in his hands, trying to hide his weakness. He failed, however, as a broken sob burst from his throat, muffled by his hands.

The entire night, Orochimaru wept. Wept for a love he knew could never be, would never be, and had never been.

OOOOOOOOO

They never found the bodies.

They never even saw blood.

Scouts searched the entire border area, but nothing but a faint whisper in the trees even hinted at Itachi's sacrifice. Orochimaru, however, knew exactly what happened. Itachi had sealed both himself and Pein into that scroll, and was keeping him safe within it. He was using his own spirit to choke down Pein's, and was putting up something of a shield around Orochimaru. He was protecting him with his life, and gave his life to protect him.

Orochimaru locked the scroll in a beautiful shrine, located inside his own soul. Off his transfer plane is the smallest of doors one can ever find, and in it, is the shrine. Orochimaru has only ever allowed Kabuto to see it, and brought him down into it. Orochimaru's immortality was strengthened by Itachi's sacrifice, and he lives to this day. Eventually, though, he shared his body-switching jutsu with Kabuto, and decided that he would keep Kabuto as his lover. He never forgot Itachi, though-

How could he, when the very soul of the sacrificial lamb lay within his own heart?

**A/N: Eeeeeeeeee-mo. Well, folks, this is it: curtains, curtain call, and then blackout. I have another OroKabu up, and I have a social life, so this is cake time. After party, anyone? : ) Head over to One Thousand and One Nights Unseen to have that party. Please, review for this one, and that one, too. Thank you so much to all my loyal reviewers!! I love you!! 3**


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